Liber Numeri 17

1 et locutus est Dominus ad Mosen dicens

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

2 loquere ad filios Israhel et accipe ab eis virgas singulas per cognationes suas a cunctis principibus tribuum virgas duodecim et uniuscuiusque nomen superscribes virgae suae

Speak unto the sons of Israel and take of them one staff each for an ancestral house of all their princes, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —each man’s name, shalt thou write upon his staff;

3 nomen autem Aaron erit in tribu Levi et una virga cunctas eorum familias continebit

and, Aaron’s name, shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi, —for, one staff, shall there be for the head of their ancestral house.

4 ponesque eas in tabernaculo foederis coram testimonio ubi loquar ad te

Then shalt thou lay them up in the tent of meeting, —before the testimony, where I meet with you.

5 quem ex his elegero germinabit virga eius et cohibebo a me querimonias filiorum Israhel quibus contra vos murmurant

So shall it come to pass, that, the man whom I shall choose, his staff, shall bud, —so will I cause to cease from against me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, wherewith they, are murmuring against you.

6 locutusque est Moses ad filios Israhel et dederunt ei omnes principes virgas per singulas tribus fueruntque virgae duodecim absque virga Aaron

And Moses spake unto the sons of Israel and every one of their princes gave unto him, a staff apiece, for each prince, by their ancestral houses, twelve staves, —and the staff of Aaron, was in the midst of their staves.

7 quas cum posuisset Moses coram Domino in tabernaculo testimonii

So Moses laid up the staves before Yahweh, —in the tent of the testimony.

8 sequenti die regressus invenit germinasse virgam Aaron in domo Levi et turgentibus gemmis eruperant flores qui foliis dilatatis in amigdalas deformati sunt

And it came to pass, on the morrow, that Moses entered into the tent of the testimony; and lo! the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi, had budded, —yea it had brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms, and borne ripe almonds.

9 protulit ergo Moses omnes virgas de conspectu Domini ad cunctos filios Israhel videruntque et receperunt singuli virgas suas

So then Moses brought forth all the staves, from before Yahweh, unto all the sons of Israel, —and they saw and took, each man his own staff.

10 dixitque Dominus ad Mosen refer virgam Aaron in tabernaculum testimonii ut servetur ibi in signum rebellium filiorum et quiescant querellae eorum a me ne moriantur

And Yahweh said unto Moses—Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, to be kept as a sign unto such as are perverse, —that thou mayest bring to an end their murmurings against me that they die not.

11 fecitque Moses sicut praeceperat Dominus

Thus did Moses, —as Yahweh commanded him, so, did he.

12 dixerunt autem filii Israhel ad Mosen ecce consumpti sumus omnes perivimus

Then spake the sons of Israel unto Moses saying: Lo! we have breathed our last—we are lost, we are, all, lost:

13 quicumque accedit ad tabernaculum Domini moritur num usque ad internicionem cuncti delendi sumus

whosoever draweth near—draweth near—unto the habitation of Yahweh, dieth, —are we ever to have made an end of breathing our last?