Numbers 17
1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the sons of Israel and take of them one staff each for an ancestral house of all their princes, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —each man’s name, shalt thou write upon his staff;
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.
3 and, Aaron’s name, shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi, —for, one staff, shall there be for the head of their ancestral house.
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.
4 Then shalt thou lay them up in the tent of meeting, —before the testimony, where I meet with you.
And thou shalt lay them down in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I usually meet with you.
5 So shall it come to pass, that, the man whom I shall choose, his staff, shall bud, —so will I cause to cease from against me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, wherewith they, are murmuring against you.
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.
6 And Moses spake unto the sons of Israel and every one of their princes gave unto him, a staff apiece, for each prince, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —and the staff of Aaron, was in the midst of their staves.
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.
7 So Moses laid up the staves before Yahweh, —in the tent of the testimony.
And Moses laid down the staves before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony.
8 And it came to pass, on the morrow, that Moses entered into the tent of the testimony; and lo! the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi, had budded, —yea it had brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms, and borne ripe almonds.
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.
9 So then Moses brought forth all the staves, from before Yahweh, unto all the sons of Israel, —and they saw and took, each man his own staff.
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.
10 And Yahweh said unto Moses—Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, to be kept as a sign unto such as are perverse, —that thou mayest bring to an end their murmurings against me that they die not.
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.
11 Thus did Moses, —as Yahweh commanded him, so, did he.
And Moses did so; as the Lord had commanded him, so did he.
12 Then spake the sons of Israel unto Moses saying: Lo! we have breathed our last—we are lost, we are, all, lost:
And the children of Israel said unto Moses, thus, Behold, we perish, we are lost, we are all lost.
13 whosoever draweth near—draweth near—unto the habitation of Yahweh, dieth, —are we ever to have made an end of breathing our last?
Every one that cometh near at all unto the tabernacle of the Lord must die: shall we totally perish?
