Numbers 17

1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

And the LORD said to Moses,

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.

“Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,

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.

and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

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

Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet 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."

The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

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 spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.

7 Moses laid up the rods before YHWH in the tent of the testimony.

Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

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 next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.

9 Moses brought out all the rods from before YHWH to all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.

10 YHWH 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."

The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”

11 Moses did so. As YHWH commanded him, so he did.

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

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

Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

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

Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”