Numbers 17

1 And the LORD said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and take from them one staff each for a family division, from all their princes, according to their family divisions, twelve staves: the name of each man shalt thou write upon his staff.

3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

And the name of Aaron shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi; for there shall be but one staff for the head of their family division.

4 Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you.

And thou shalt lay them down in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I usually meet with you.

5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

And it shall come to pass, that the staff of the man whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will allay from around me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.

6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.

And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him each a staff, one for every prince, according to their family divisions, twelve staves: and the staff of Aaron was among their staves.

7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

And Moses laid down the staves before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony.

8 The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that as Moses went into the tabernacle of the testimony, behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded; and it brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded ripe almonds.

9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.

And Moses brought out all the staves from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked [at them], and took away every one his staff.

10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”

And the Lord said unto Moses, Carry back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a token against the children of rebellion, that there may be an end of their murmurings from around me, and they die not.

11 So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

And Moses did so; as the Lord had commanded him, so did he.

12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

And the children of Israel said unto Moses, thus, Behold, we perish, we are lost, we are all lost.

13 Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”

Every one that cometh near at all unto the tabernacle of the Lord must die: shall we totally perish?