Numbers 17

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of [their] fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.

“Speak to the people of Israel and get staffs from them, one for each ancestral tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff.

3 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod [shall be] for the head of the house of their fathers.

You must write Aaron's name on Levi's staff. There must be one staff for each leader from his ancestors' tribe.

4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

You must place the staffs in the tent of meeting in front of the covenant decrees, where I meet with you.

5 And it shall come to pass, [that] the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

It will happen that the staff of the man whom I choose will bud. I will cause the complaints from the people of Israel to stop, which they are speaking against you.”

6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, [even] twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron [was] among their rods.

So Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All the tribal leaders gave him staffs, one staff from each leader, selected from each of the ancestral tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them.

7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.

Then Moses deposited the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of the covenant decrees.

8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

The next day Moses went into the tent of the covenant decrees and, behold, Aaron's staff for the tribe of Levi had budded. It grew buds and produced blossoms and ripe almonds!

9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

Moses brought out all the staffs from before Yahweh to all the people of Israel, and each man took his staff.

10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Put Aaron's staff in front of the covenant decrees. Keep it as a sign of guilt against the people who rebelled so that you may end complaints against me, or they will die.”

11 And Moses did [so: ] as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him.

12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

The people of Israel spoke to Moses and said, “We will die here. We will all perish!

13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Everyone who comes up, who approaches Yahweh's tabernacle, will die. Must we all perish?”