Numbers 17
1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
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;
“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, Aaron’s name, shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi, —for, one staff, shall there be for the head of their ancestral house.
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 Then shalt thou 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 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.
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 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.
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 So Moses laid up the staves before Yahweh, —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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 Yahweh commanded him, so, did he.
So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.
12 Then spake the sons of Israel unto Moses saying: Lo! we have breathed our last—we are lost, we are, all, lost:
Then the Israeli people said to Moses/me, “We are going to die! All of us are surely going to die!
13 whosoever draweth near—draweth near—unto the habitation of Yahweh, dieth, —are we ever to have made an end of breathing our last?
Everyone who comes close to Yahweh’s Sacred Tent dies. Are the rest of us going to die, also?” [RHQ]
