Ἀριθμοί 17

1 καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ καὶ λαβὲ παρ’ αὐτῶν ῥάβδον ῥάβδον κατ’ οἴκους πατριῶν παρὰ πάντων τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτῶν κατ’ οἴκους πατριῶν αὐτῶν δώδεκα ῥάβδους καὶ ἑκάστου τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπίγραψον ἐπὶ τῆς ῥάβδου αὐτοῦ

“Tell the Israeli people to bring to you twelve walking sticks. They should bring one from each of the leaders of the twelve tribes. You should carve each leader’s name on his stick.

3 καὶ τὸ ὄνομα Ααρων ἐπίγραψον ἐπὶ τῆς ῥάβδου Λευι ἔστιν γὰρ ῥάβδος μία κατὰ φυλὴν οἴκου πατριῶν αὐτῶν δώσουσιν

There must be one stick for the leader of each tribe, so you must carve Aaron’s name on the stick for the tribe of Levi.

4 καὶ θήσεις αὐτὰς ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου κατέναντι τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐν οἷς γνωσθήσομαί σοι ἐκεῖ

Put those sticks inside the Sacred Tent, in front of the sacred chest that has in it the tablets on which the Ten Commandments are written. That is the place where I always talk with you.

5 καὶ ἔσται ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὃν ἐὰν ἐκλέξωμαι αὐτόν ἡ ῥάβδος αὐτοῦ ἐκβλαστήσει καὶ περιελῶ ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ τὸν γογγυσμὸν τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἃ αὐτοὶ γογγύζουσιν ἐφ’ ὑμῖν

Buds will sprout on the stick of the man whom I have chosen [to be the priest]. [When the people see that], they will stop their constantly complaining about you [because they will realize that you are the one whom I have chosen].”

6 καὶ ἐλάλησεν Μωυσῆς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ καὶ ἔδωκαν αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῶν ῥάβδον τῷ ἄρχοντι τῷ ἑνὶ ῥάβδον κατὰ ἄρχοντα κατ’ οἴκους πατριῶν αὐτῶν δώδεκα ῥάβδους καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος Ααρων ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ῥάβδων αὐτῶν

So Moses/I told the people what Yahweh had said. Then each of the twelve Israeli leaders, including Aaron, brought his walking stick to Moses/me.

7 καὶ ἀπέθηκεν Μωυσῆς τὰς ῥάβδους ἔναντι κυρίου ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου

Moses/I placed the sticks inside the Sacred Tent in front of the sacred chest.

8 καὶ ἐγένετο τῇ ἐπαύριον καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐβλάστησεν ἡ ῥάβδος Ααρων εἰς οἶκον Λευι καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν βλαστὸν καὶ ἐξήνθησεν ἄνθη καὶ ἐβλάστησεν κάρυα

The following morning, when he/I went into the tent, he/I saw that Aaron’s stick, which represented the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, it had produced leaves and blossoms, and it had also produced almonds that were ripe!

9 καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν Μωυσῆς πάσας τὰς ῥάβδους ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου πρὸς πάντας υἱοὺς Ισραηλ καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἔλαβον ἕκαστος τὴν ῥάβδον αὐτοῦ

Moses/I brought all the sticks out of the Sacred Tent and showed them to the people. Each of the twelve leaders took back his own stick.

10 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἀπόθες τὴν ῥάβδον Ααρων ἐνώπιον τῶν μαρτυρίων εἰς διατήρησιν σημεῖον τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνηκόων καὶ παυσάσθω ὁ γογγυσμὸς αὐτῶν ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνωσιν

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Put Aaron’s stick in front of the sacred chest, and let it stay there permanently. That will be a warning to people who want to rebel [against me]. Then no more people will die [because of complaining against me].”

11 καὶ ἐποίησεν Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων καθὰ συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ οὕτως ἐποίησαν

So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.

12 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγοντες ἰδοὺ ἐξανηλώμεθα ἀπολώλαμεν παρανηλώμεθα

Then the Israeli people said to Moses/me, “We are going to die! All of us are surely going to die!

13 πᾶς ὁ ἁπτόμενος τῆς σκηνῆς κυρίου ἀποθνῄσκει ἕως εἰς τέλος ἀποθάνωμεν

Everyone who comes close to Yahweh’s Sacred Tent dies. Are the rest of us going to die, also?” [RHQ]