Numbers 17

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 "Speak to 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: write every man's name on 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 You shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers' houses.

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 You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.

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 It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which 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 Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their leaders gave him rods, one for each leader, according to their ancestral houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

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 Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.

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

8 It happened on the next day, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and look, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and bore ripe 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 brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

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 The LORD said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, that they not 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 Moses did so. As the LORD commanded him, so he did.

So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.

12 The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Look, we perish. We are undone. We are all undone.

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

13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, dies. Will we all perish?"

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