< Numbers 17 >
1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; thou shalt write every man's name upon his rod.
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.
3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their fathers' houses.
And Aaron's name shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi; for one staff shall be for [each] head of their fathers' houses.
4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.
And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.
5 And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall bud; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.'
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.
6 And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
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.
7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.
And Moses laid the staves before Jehovah in the tent of the testimony.
8 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.
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.
9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod.
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.
10 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept there, for a token against the rebellious children; that there may be made an end of their murmurings against Me, that they die not.'
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.
11 Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
And Moses did so: as Jehovah had commanded him, so did he.
12 And the children of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.
And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Lo, we expire, we perish, we all perish.
13 Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the LORD, is to die; shall we wholly perish?'
Every one that comes at all near to the tabernacle of Jehovah shall die: shall we then expire altogether?