Numbers 17

1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

And the Lord spak to Moises, `and seide, Speke thou to the sones of Israel,

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.

and take thou yerdis, bi her kynredis, bi ech kynrede o yeerde, take thou of alle the princes of the lynagis twelue yerdis; and thou schalt write the name of each lynage aboue his yerde;

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.

forsothe the name of Aaron schal be in the lynage of Leuy, and o yerde schal conteyne alle the meynees of hem.

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 schalt putte tho yerdis in the tabernacle of boond of pees, bifor the witnessyng, where Y schal speke to thee; the yerde of hym schal buriowne, whom Y schal chese of hem;

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 Y schal refreyne fro me the playnyngis of the sones of Israel, bi whiche thei grutchen ayens 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 Moyses spak to the sones of Israel; and alle princes yauen to hym yerdis, bi alle lynagis; and the yerdis weren twelue, without the yerde of Aaron.

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

And whanne Moises hadde put tho yerdis bifor the Lord, in the tabernacle of witnessyng, he yede ayen in the day suynge,

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 founde that the yerde of Aaron, `in the hows of Leuy, buriounnede; and whanne knoppis weren greet, the blossoms `hadden broke out, whiche weren alargid in leeuys, and weren fourmed in to alemaundis.

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.

Therfor Moyses brouyte forth alle the yerdis fro the siyt of the Lord to al the sones of Israel; and thei sien, and resseyueden ech his yerde.

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 the Lord seide to Moises, Bere ayen the yerde of Aaron in to the tabernacle of witnessyng, that it be kept there in to `the signe of the rebel sones of Israel, and that her `playntis reste fro me, lest thei dien.

11 So Moses/I did what Yahweh had commanded.

And Moises dide, as the Lord comaundide.

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

Forsothe the sones of Israel seiden to Moises, Lo! we ben wastid, alle we perischiden;

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

who euer neiyeth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth; whethir we schulen be doon awei alle `til to deeth?