< Numbers 17 >

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them a staff, a staff for each father's house, of all their princes according to the houses of their fathers, twelve staves: thou shalt write each one's name upon his staff.
“Speak to the people of Israel and get staffs from them, one for each ancestral tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff.
3 And Aaron's name shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi; for one staff shall be for [each] head of their fathers' houses.
You must write Aaron's name on Levi's staff. There must be one staff for each leader from his ancestors' tribe.
4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.
You must place the staffs in the tent of meeting in front of the covenant decrees, where I meet with you.
5 And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall choose, his staff shall bud forth; and I will make to cease from before me the murmurings of the children of Israel, that they murmur against you.
It will happen that the staff of the man whom I choose will bud. I will cause the complaints from the people of Israel to stop, which they are speaking against you.”
6 And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him a staff, one staff for each prince according to their fathers' houses, twelve staves, and the staff of Aaron was among their staves.
So Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All the tribal leaders gave him staffs, one staff from each leader, selected from each of the ancestral tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them.
7 And Moses laid the staves before Jehovah in the tent of the testimony.
Then Moses deposited the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of the covenant decrees.
8 And it came to pass, when on the morrow Moses went into the tent of the testimony, behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and ripened almonds.
The next day Moses went into the tent of the covenant decrees and, behold, Aaron's staff for the tribe of Levi had budded. It grew buds and produced blossoms and ripe almonds!
9 And Moses brought out all the staves from before Jehovah to all the children of Israel, and they looked and took each one his staff.
Moses brought out all the staffs from before Yahweh to all the people of Israel, and each man took his staff.
10 And Jehovah said to Moses, Bring Aaron's staff again before the testimony, to be kept as a token for the sons of rebellion, that thou mayest put an end to their murmurings before me, that they may not die.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Put Aaron's staff in front of the covenant decrees. Keep it as a sign of guilt against the people who rebelled so that you may end complaints against me, or they will die.”
11 And Moses did so: as Jehovah had commanded him, so did he.
Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him.
12 And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Lo, we expire, we perish, we all perish.
The people of Israel spoke to Moses and said, “We will die here. We will all perish!
13 Every one that comes at all near to the tabernacle of Jehovah shall die: shall we then expire altogether?
Everyone who comes up, who approaches Yahweh's tabernacle, will die. Must we all perish?”

< Numbers 17 >