Numbers 17

1 And the Lord spak to Moises, `and seide, Speke thou to the sones of Israel,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

2 and take thou yerdis, bi her kynredis, bi ech kynrede o yeerde, take thou of alle the princes of the lynagis twelue yerdis; and thou schalt write the name of each lynage aboue his yerde;

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 forsothe the name of Aaron schal be in the lynage of Leuy, and o yerde schal conteyne alle the meynees of hem.

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 And thou schalt putte tho yerdis in the tabernacle of boond of pees, bifor the witnessyng, where Y schal speke to thee; the yerde of hym schal buriowne, whom Y schal chese of hem;

And thou shalt lay them down in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I usually meet with you.

5 and Y schal refreyne fro me the playnyngis of the sones of Israel, bi whiche thei grutchen ayens 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 Moyses spak to the sones of Israel; and alle princes yauen to hym yerdis, bi alle lynagis; and the yerdis weren twelue, without the yerde of Aaron.

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 And whanne Moises hadde put tho yerdis bifor the Lord, in the tabernacle of witnessyng, he yede ayen in the day suynge,

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

8 and founde that the yerde of Aaron, `in the hows of Leuy, buriounnede; and whanne knoppis weren greet, the blossoms `hadden broke out, whiche weren alargid in leeuys, and weren fourmed in to alemaundis.

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 Therfor Moyses brouyte forth alle the yerdis fro the siyt of the Lord to al the sones of Israel; and thei sien, and resseyueden ech his yerde.

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 the Lord seide to Moises, Bere ayen the yerde of Aaron in to the tabernacle of witnessyng, that it be kept there in to `the signe of the rebel sones of Israel, and that her `playntis reste fro me, lest thei dien.

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 And Moises dide, as the Lord comaundide.

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

12 Forsothe the sones of Israel seiden to Moises, Lo! we ben wastid, alle we perischiden;

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

13 who euer neiyeth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth; whethir we schulen be doon awei alle `til to deeth?

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