Numbers 17

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

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.

“Tell the Israeli people to bring to you twelve walking sticks. They should bring one from each of the leaders of the twelve tribes. You should carve each leader’s name on his stick.

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

There must be one stick for the leader of each tribe, so you must carve Aaron’s name on the stick for the tribe of Levi.

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

Put those sticks inside the Sacred Tent, in front of the sacred chest that has in it the tablets on which the Ten Commandments are written. That is the place where I always talk 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.

Buds will sprout on the stick of the man whom I have chosen [to be the priest]. [When the people see that], they will stop their constantly complaining about you [because they will realize that you are the one whom I have chosen].”

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.

So Moses/I told the people what Yahweh had said. Then each of the twelve Israeli leaders, including Aaron, brought his walking stick to Moses/me.

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

Moses/I placed the sticks inside the Sacred Tent in front of the sacred chest.

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.

The following morning, when he/I went into the tent, he/I saw that Aaron’s stick, which represented the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, it had produced leaves and blossoms, and it had also produced almonds that were ripe!

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.

Moses/I brought all the sticks out of the Sacred Tent and showed them to the people. Each of the twelve leaders took back his own stick.

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.

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Put Aaron’s stick in front of the sacred chest, and let it stay there permanently. That will be a warning to people who want to rebel [against me]. Then no more people will die [because of complaining against me].”

11 And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.

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

Then the Israeli people said to Moses/me, “We are going to die! All of us are surely going to die!

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

Everyone who comes close to Yahweh’s Sacred Tent dies. Are the rest of us going to die, also?” [RHQ]