Numbers 17

1 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

2 Speake vnto the children of Israel, and take of euery one of them a rod, after the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the familie of their fathers, euen twelue rods: and thou shalt write euery mans name vpon his rod.

“Tell the Israelites to bring twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on the walking stick,

3 And write Aarons name vpon the rod of Leui: for euery rodde shalbe for the head of the house of their fathers.

and write Aaron's name on the walking stick of the tribe of Levi, because there has to be a walking stick for the head of each tribe.

4 And thou shalt put them in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, before the Arke of the Testimonie, where I wil declare my selfe to you.

Place the walking sticks in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony where I meet with you.

5 And the mans rod, whome I chuse, shall blossome: and I will make cease from mee the grudgings of the children of Israel, which grudge against you.

The walking stick that belongs to the man I choose will sprout buds, and I will put a stop to the Israelites' constant complaints against you.”

6 Then Moses spake vnto the children of Israel, and al their princes gaue him a rod, one rod for euery Prince, according to the houses of their fathers, euen twelue rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their roddes.

Moses explained this to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a walking stick, one for each of the leaders of their tribes. So there were twelve walking sticks including the one belonging to Aaron.

7 And Moses layde the rods before the Lord in the Tabernacle of the Testimonie.

Moses placed the walking sticks before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.

8 And when Moses on the morow went into the Tabernacle of the Testimonie, beholde, the rod of Aaron for the house of Leui was budded, and brought forth buddes, and brought forth blossoms, and bare ripe almondes.

The next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's walking stick that represented the tribe of Levi, had sprouted and developed buds, flowered and produced almonds.

9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord vnto all the children of Israel: and they looked vpon them, and tooke euery man his rodde.

Moses took all the walking sticks from the presence of the Lord and showed them to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man collected his own walking stick.

10 After, the Lord said vnto Moses, Bring Aarons rod againe before the Testimonie to bee kept for a token to the rebellious children, and thou shalt cause their murmurings to cease from me, that they dye not.

The Lord told Moses, “Put Aaron's walking stick back in front of the Testimony, to be kept there as a reminder to warn anyone who wants to rebel, so that you may stop their complaining against me. Otherwise they'll die.”

11 So Moses did as the Lord had commanded him: so did he.

Moses did what the Lord ordered him to do.

12 And the children of Israel spake vnto Moses, saying, Behold, we are dead, we perish, we are all lost:

Then the Israelites came and told Moses, “Can't you see we're all going to die? We'll be destroyed! We're all going to be killed!

13 Whosoeuer commeth neere, or approcheth to the Tabernacle of the Lord, shall dye: shall we be consumed and dye?

Anyone who dares to approach the Tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to be completely wiped out?”