Numbers 17

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak to 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 unto the children of Israel, and take from them one staff each for a family division, from all their princes, according to their family divisions, twelve staves: the name of each man shalt thou write upon 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.

And the name of Aaron shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi; for there shall be but one staff for the head of their family division.

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

And thou shalt lay them down in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I usually 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, by which they murmur against you.

And it shall come to pass, that the staff of the man whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will allay from around me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.

6 And Moses spoke to 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.

And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him each a staff, one for every prince, according to their family divisions, twelve staves: and the staff of Aaron was among their staves.

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

And Moses laid down the staves before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony.

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

And it came to pass on the morrow, that as Moses went into the tabernacle of the testimony, behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded; and it brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded ripe almonds.

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

And Moses brought out all the staves from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked [at them], and took away every one his staff.

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

And the Lord said unto Moses, Carry back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a token against the children of rebellion, that there may be an end of their murmurings from around me, and they die not.

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

And Moses did so; as the Lord had commanded him, so did he.

12 And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

And the children of Israel said unto Moses, thus, Behold, we perish, we are lost, we are all lost.

13 Whoever approacheth the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Every one that cometh near at all unto the tabernacle of the Lord must die: shall we totally perish?