Numbers 17

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and take a rod from each of them, for a father’s house, from all their princes, for the house of their fathers—twelve rods; you write the name of each on his rod,

Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods of them, according to the houses of their families, a rod from all their princes, according to the houses of their families, twelve rods, and write the name of each on his rod.

3 and you write Aaron’s name on the tribe of Levi; for one rod [is] for the head of their fathers’ house.

And write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi; for it is one rod [for each]: they shall give [them] according to the tribe of the house of their families.

4 And you have placed them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you.

And you shall put them in the tabernacle of witness, before the testimony, where I will be made known to you.

5 And it has come to pass, the man’s rod on whom I fix flourishes, and I have caused the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you, to cease from off Me.”

And it shall be, the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall blossom; and I will remove from me the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.

6 And Moses speaks to the sons of Israel, and all their princes give to him one rod for a prince, one rod for a prince, for their fathers’ house—twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron [is] in the midst of their rods;

And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him a rod [each], for one chief a rod, according to the house of their families, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron [was] in the midst of the rods.

7 and Moses places the rods before YHWH in the Tent of the Testimony.

And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.

8 And it comes to pass, on the next day, that Moses goes into the Tent of the Testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron has flourished for the house of Levi, and brings out a bud, and blossoms [with] a blossom, and produces almonds;

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi blossomed, and put forth a bud, and bloomed blossoms and produced almonds.

9 and Moses brings out all the rods from before YHWH to all the sons of Israel, and they look, and each takes his rod.

And Moses brought forth all the rods from before the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod.

10 And YHWH says to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the Testimony, for a charge, for a sign to the sons of rebellion, and you remove their murmurings from off Me, and they do not die”;

And the Lord said to Moses, Lay up the rod of Aaron before the testimonies to be kept as a sign for the children of the disobedient; and let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not die.

11 and Moses does as YHWH has commanded him; so he has done.

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

12 And the sons of Israel speak to Moses, saying, “Behold, we have expired, we have perished, all of us have perished!

And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.

13 Any who is at all drawing near to the Dwelling Place of YHWH dies; have we not been consumed—to expire?”

Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly?