Numbers 17

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

And the LORD said to Moses,

2 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and take from them each a rod, for a father's house, from all their princes, for the house of their fathers, twelve rods; the name of each thou dost write on his rod,

“Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,

3 and Aaron's name thou dost write on the tribe of Levi; for one rod [is] for the head of their fathers' house:

and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

4 and thou hast placed them in the tent of meeting, before the testimony, where I meet with you.

Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you.

5 'And it hath come to pass, the man's rod on whom I fix doth flourish, and I have caused to cease from off me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you.'

The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

6 And Moses speaketh unto the sons of Israel, and all their princes give unto him one rod for a prince, one rod for a prince, for their fathers' house, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron [is] in the midst of their rods;

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.

7 and Moses placeth the rods before Jehovah, in the tent of the testimony.

Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

8 And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Moses goeth in unto the tent of the testimony, and lo, the rod of Aaron hath flourished for the house of Levi, and is bringing out flourishing, and doth blossom blossoms, and doth produce almonds;

The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.

9 and Moses bringeth out all the rods from before Jehovah, unto all the sons of Israel, and they look, and take each his rod.

Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.

10 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, for a charge, for a sign to the sons of rebellion, and thou dost remove their murmurings from off me, and they do not die;'

The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”

11 and Moses doth as Jehovah hath commanded him; so he hath done.

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

12 And the sons of Israel speak unto Moses, saying, 'Lo, we have expired; we have perished; we have all of us perished;

Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

13 any who is at all drawing near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah dieth; have we not been consumed — to expire?'

Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”