Numbers 17

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

The Lord told 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,

“Tell the Israelites to bring twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on the walking stick,

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 walking stick of the tribe of Levi, because there has to be a walking stick 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 walking sticks 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 walking stick that belongs to the man I choose will sprout buds, and I will put a stop to the Israelites' constant complaints 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;

Moses explained this to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a walking stick, one for each of the leaders of their tribes. So there were twelve walking sticks including the one belonging to Aaron.

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

Moses placed the walking sticks 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 went into the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's walking stick that represented the tribe of Levi, had sprouted and developed buds, flowered 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.

Moses took all the walking sticks from the presence of the Lord and showed them to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man collected his own walking stick.

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 told Moses, “Put Aaron's walking stick back in front of the Testimony, to be kept there as a reminder to warn anyone who wants to rebel, so that you may stop their complaining against me. Otherwise they'll die.”

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

Moses did what the Lord ordered him to do.

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 came and told Moses, “Can't you see we're all going to die? We'll be destroyed! We're all going to be killed!

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

Anyone who dares to approach the Tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to be completely wiped out?”