Numbers 17
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “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.
Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them a staff, a staff for each father's house, of all their princes according to the houses of their fathers, twelve staves: thou shalt write each one's name upon his staff.
3 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.
And Aaron's name shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi; for one staff shall be for [each] head of their fathers' houses.
4 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.
And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.
5 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].”
And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall choose, his staff shall bud forth; and I will make to cease from before me the murmurings of the children of Israel, that they murmur against you.
6 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.
And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him a staff, one staff for each prince according to their fathers' houses, twelve staves, and the staff of Aaron was among their staves.
7 Moses/I placed the sticks inside the Sacred Tent in front of the sacred chest.
And Moses laid the staves before Jehovah in the tent of the testimony.
8 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!
And it came to pass, when on the morrow Moses went into the tent of the testimony, behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and ripened almonds.
9 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.
And Moses brought out all the staves from before Jehovah to all the children of Israel, and they looked and took each one his staff.
10 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].”
And Jehovah said to Moses, Bring Aaron's staff again before the testimony, to be kept as a token for the sons of rebellion, that thou mayest put an end to their murmurings before me, that they may not die.
11 So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.
And Moses did so: as Jehovah had commanded him, so did he.
12 Then the Israeli people said to Moses/me, “We are going to die! All of us are surely going to die!
And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Lo, we expire, we perish, we all perish.
13 Everyone who comes close to Yahweh’s Sacred Tent dies. Are the rest of us going to die, also?” [RHQ]
Every one that comes at all near to the tabernacle of Jehovah shall die: shall we then expire altogether?
