Numbers 17

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

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: write thou every man’s name upon 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 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon 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 And thou shalt 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 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.

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 And Moses spake 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.

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 And 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 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 bare 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 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.

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 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that thou mayest make an end of their murmurings against me, that they die not.

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 Thus did Moses: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.

12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, 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 Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the LORD, dieth: shall we perish all of us?

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