Numbers 17

1 And the Lord said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Say to the children of Israel that they are to give you rods, one for every family, for every chief, the head of his father's house, making twelve rods; let every man's name be placed on his rod.

Speak to the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of every man upon his rod.

3 And let Aaron's name be placed on the rod of Levi: for there is to be one rod for the head of every family.

And the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod shall contain all their families:

4 And let them be stored up in the Tent of meeting, in front of the ark of witness where I come to you.

And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to thee.

5 And the rod of that man who is marked out by me for myself will have buds on it; so I will put a stop to the outcries which the children of Israel make to me against you.

Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, wherewith they murmur against you.

6 So Moses gave these orders to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him rods, one for the head of every family, making twelve rods: and Aaron's rod was among them.

And Moses spoke to the children of Israel: and all the princes gave him rods one for every tribe: and there were twelve rods besides the rod of Aaron.

7 And Moses put the rods before the Lord in the Tent of witness.

And when Moses had laid them up before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony:

8 Now on the day after, Moses went into the Tent of witness; and he saw that Aaron's rod, the rod of the house of Levi, had put out buds, and was covered with buds and flowers and fruit.

He returned on the following day, and found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded: and that the buds swelling it had bloomed blossoms, which spreading the leaves, were formed into almonds.

9 Then Moses took out all the rods from before the Lord, and gave them back to the children of Israel: and they saw them, and every man took his rod.

Moses therefore brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel: and they saw, and every one received their rods.

10 And the Lord said to Moses, Put Aaron's rod back in front of the ark of witness, to be kept for a sign against this false-hearted people, so that you may put a stop to their outcries against me, and death may not overtake them.

And the Lord said to Moses: Carry back the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be kept there for a token of the rebellious children of Israel, and that their complaints may cease from me lest they die.

11 This Moses did: as the Lord gave orders, so he did.

And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

12 And the children of Israel said to Moses, Truly, destruction has come on us; an evil fate has overtaken us all.

And the children of Israel said to Moses: Behold we are consumed, we all perish.

13 Death will overtake everyone who comes near, who comes near the House of the Lord: are we all to come to destruction?

Whosoever approacheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth. Are we all to a man to be utterly destroyed?