Numbers 17

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the people of Israel and get staffs from them, one for each ancestral tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff.

Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods of them, according to the houses of their families, a rod from all their princes, according to the houses of their families, twelve rods, and write the name of each on his rod.

3 You must write Aaron's name on Levi's staff. There must be one staff for each leader from his ancestors' tribe.

And write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi; for it is one rod [for each]: they shall give [them] according to the tribe of the house of their families.

4 You must place the staffs in the tent of meeting in front of the covenant decrees, where I meet with you.

And you shall put them in the tabernacle of witness, before the testimony, where I will be made known to you.

5 It will happen that the staff of the man whom I choose will bud. I will cause the complaints from the people of Israel to stop, which they are speaking against you.”

And it shall be, the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall blossom; and I will remove from me the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.

6 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All the tribal leaders gave him staffs, one staff from each leader, selected from each of the ancestral tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them.

And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him a rod [each], for one chief a rod, according to the house of their families, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron [was] in the midst of the rods.

7 Then Moses deposited the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of the covenant decrees.

And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.

8 The next day Moses went into the tent of the covenant decrees and, behold, Aaron's staff for the tribe of Levi had budded. It grew buds and produced blossoms and ripe almonds!

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi blossomed, and put forth a bud, and bloomed blossoms and produced almonds.

9 Moses brought out all the staffs from before Yahweh to all the people of Israel, and each man took his staff.

And Moses brought forth all the rods from before the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod.

10 Yahweh said to Moses, “Put Aaron's staff in front of the covenant decrees. Keep it as a sign of guilt against the people who rebelled so that you may end complaints against me, or they will die.”

And the Lord said to Moses, Lay up the rod of Aaron before the testimonies to be kept as a sign for the children of the disobedient; and let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not die.

11 Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him.

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

12 The people of Israel spoke to Moses and said, “We will die here. We will all perish!

And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.

13 Everyone who comes up, who approaches Yahweh's tabernacle, will die. Must we all perish?”

Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly?