Numbers 17

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

2 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.

Speak unto the sons of Israel and take of them one staff each for an ancestral house of all their princes, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —each man’s name, shalt thou write upon his staff;

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

and, Aaron’s name, shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi, —for, one staff, shall there be for the head of their ancestral house.

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

Then shalt thou lay them up in the tent of meeting, —before the testimony, where I meet with you.

5 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.

So shall it come to pass, that, the man whom I shall choose, his staff, shall bud, —so will I cause to cease from against me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, wherewith they, are murmuring against you.

6 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.

And Moses spake unto the sons of Israel and every one of their princes gave unto him, a staff apiece, for each prince, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —and the staff of Aaron, was in the midst of their staves.

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

So Moses laid up the staves before Yahweh, —in the tent of the testimony.

8 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.

And it came to pass, on the morrow, that Moses entered into the tent of the testimony; and lo! the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi, had budded, —yea it had brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms, and borne ripe almonds.

9 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.

So then Moses brought forth all the staves, from before Yahweh, unto all the sons of Israel, —and they saw and took, each man his own staff.

10 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.

And Yahweh said unto Moses—Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, to be kept as a sign unto such as are perverse, —that thou mayest bring to an end their murmurings against me that they die not.

11 And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

Thus did Moses, —as Yahweh commanded him, so, did he.

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

Then spake the sons of Israel unto Moses saying: Lo! we have breathed our last—we are lost, we are, all, lost:

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

whosoever draweth near—draweth near—unto the habitation of Yahweh, dieth, —are we ever to have made an end of breathing our last?