Numbers 17

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod.

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 You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.

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 You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the covenant, 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 It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”

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 Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was amongst their rods.

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 Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

And Moses laid down the staves before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony.

8 On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore 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 Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.

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 The LORD said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.”

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 Moses did so. As the LORD commanded him, so he did.

And Moses did so; as the Lord had commanded him, so did he.

12 The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone!

And the children of Israel said unto Moses, thus, Behold, we perish, we are lost, we are all lost.

13 Everyone who keeps approaching the LORD’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”

Every one that cometh near at all unto the tabernacle of the Lord must die: shall we totally perish?