Numbers 17

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and receive from each of them a rod by their kinships, from all the leaders of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of each one on his rod.

Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods of them, according to the houses of their families, a rod from all their princes, according to the houses of their families, twelve rods, and write the name of each on his rod.

3 But the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod separately shall contain all their families.

And write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi; for it is one rod [for each]: they shall give [them] according to the tribe of the house of their families.

4 And you shall place these in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to you.

And you shall put them in the tabernacle of witness, before the testimony, where I will be made known to you.

5 Whomever of these I will choose, his rod will germinate, and so shall I restrain the complaints of the sons of Israel before me, by which they murmur against you.”

And it shall be, the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall blossom; and I will remove from me the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.

6 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel. And all the leaders gave him rods, one for each tribe. And there were twelve rods, aside from the rod of Aaron.

And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him a rod [each], for one chief a rod, according to the house of their families, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron [was] in the midst of the rods.

7 And when Moses had placed these before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony,

And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.

8 returning on the following day, he found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, had germinated, and that the swelling buds had opened into flowers, which, spreading their petals, were formed into those of an almond tree.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi blossomed, and put forth a bud, and bloomed blossoms and produced almonds.

9 Therefore, Moses brought out all the rods, from the sight of the Lord, to all the sons of Israel. And they saw, and each one received their rods.

And Moses brought forth all the rods from before the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod.

10 And the Lord said to Moses: “Carry back the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be kept there as a sign of the rebellion of the sons of Israel, and so that their complaints may be quieted before me, lest they die.”

And the Lord said to Moses, Lay up the rod of Aaron before the testimonies to be kept as a sign for the children of the disobedient; and let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not die.

11 And Moses did just as the Lord had instructed.

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

12 Then the sons of Israel said to Moses: “Behold, we have been consumed; we have been ruined.

And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.

13 Whoever approaches to the tabernacle of the Lord dies. Will we all be wiped away, even to total annihilation?”

Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly?