Numbers 17

1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying,

2 “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.

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.

3 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.

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.

4 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.

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

5 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].”

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.

6 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.

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.

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

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

8 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!

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.

9 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.

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

10 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].”

And YHWH 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.

11 So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.

And Moses did so: as YHWH commanded him, so did he.

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

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

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

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