Numbers 17

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod.

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and receive from each of them a rod by their kinships, from all the leaders of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of each one on his rod.

3 You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.

But the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod separately shall contain all their families.

4 You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you.

And you shall place these in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to you.

5 It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”

Whomever of these I will choose, his rod will germinate, and so shall I restrain the complaints of the sons of Israel before me, by which they murmur against you.”

6 Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was among their rods.

And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel. And all the leaders gave him rods, one for each tribe. And there were twelve rods, aside from the rod of Aaron.

7 Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

And when Moses had placed these before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony,

8 On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

returning on the following day, he found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, had germinated, and that the swelling buds had opened into flowers, which, spreading their petals, were formed into those of an almond tree.

9 Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.

Therefore, Moses brought out all the rods, from the sight of the Lord, to all the sons of Israel. And they saw, and each one received their rods.

10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.”

And the Lord said to Moses: “Carry back the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be kept there as a sign of the rebellion of the sons of Israel, and so that their complaints may be quieted before me, lest they die.”

11 Moses did so. As the LORD commanded him, so he did.

And Moses did just as the Lord had instructed.

12 The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone!

Then the sons of Israel said to Moses: “Behold, we have been consumed; we have been ruined.

13 Everyone who keeps approaching the LORD’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”

Whoever approaches to the tabernacle of the Lord dies. Will we all be wiped away, even to total annihilation?”