Numbers 17

1 And the LORD said to Moses,

And the LORD spake 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 of them rods, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.

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

And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.

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

And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I 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 man whom I shall choose, his rod shall bud: and I will make to cease from 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 spake unto the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

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

And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tent 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 Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bare 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 rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

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, Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that thou mayest make an end of their murmurings against me, that they die not.

11 So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

Thus did Moses: as the LORD 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 spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.

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

Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the LORD, dieth: shall we perish all of us?