Numbers 17

1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take from them one staff each for a family division, from all their princes, according to their family divisions, twelve staves: the name of each man shalt thou write 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 the name of Aaron shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi; for there shall be but one staff for the head of their family division.

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 down in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I usually 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 staff of the man whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will allay from around me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which 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 unto the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him each a staff, one for every prince, according to their family divisions, 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 down the staves before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony.

Then Moses deposited the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of the covenant decrees.

8 And it came to pass on the morrow, that as Moses went into the tabernacle of the testimony, behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded; and it brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded ripe 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 the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked [at them], and took away every 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 the Lord said unto Moses, Carry back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a token against the children of rebellion, that there may be an end of their murmurings from around me, and they die not.

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 the Lord had commanded him, so did he.

Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him.

12 And the children of Israel said unto Moses, thus, Behold, we perish, we are lost, we are all lost.

The people of Israel spoke to Moses and said, “We will die here. We will all perish!

13 Every one that cometh near at all unto the tabernacle of the Lord must die: shall we totally perish?

Everyone who comes up, who approaches Yahweh's tabernacle, will die. Must we all perish?”