Numbers 17

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:

And the LORD said to Moses,

2 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; thou shalt write every man's name upon his rod.

“Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,

3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their fathers' houses.

and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

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

Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you.

5 And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall bud; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.'

The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

6 And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, 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 Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.

7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.

Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

8 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced 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.

Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.

10 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept there, for a token against the rebellious children; that there may be made an end of their murmurings against Me, that they die not.'

The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”

11 Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

12 And the children of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.

Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

13 Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the LORD, is to die; shall we wholly perish?'

Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”