Numbers 17

¹And the Lord said to Moses,

²Say to the children of Israel that they are to give you rods, one for every family, for every chief, the head of his father's house, making twelve rods; let every man's name be placed on his rod.

³And let Aaron's name be placed on the rod of Levi: for there is to be one rod for the head of every family.

⁴And let them be stored up in the Tent of meeting, in front of the ark of witness where I come to you.

⁵And the rod of that man who is marked out by me for myself will have buds on it; so I will put a stop to the outcries which the children of Israel make to me against you.

⁶So Moses gave these orders to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him rods, one for the head of every family, making twelve rods: and Aaron's rod was among them.

⁷And Moses put the rods before the Lord in the Tent of witness.

⁸Now on the day after, Moses went into the Tent of witness; and he saw that Aaron's rod, the rod of the house of Levi, had put out buds, and was covered with buds and flowers and fruit.

⁹Then Moses took out all the rods from before the Lord, and gave them back to the children of Israel: and they saw them, and every man took his rod.

¹⁰And the Lord said to Moses, Put Aaron's rod back in front of the ark of witness, to be kept for a sign against this false-hearted people, so that you may put a stop to their outcries against me, and death may not overtake them.

¹¹This Moses did: as the Lord gave orders, so he did.

¹²And the children of Israel said to Moses, Truly, destruction has come on us; an evil fate has overtaken us all.

¹³Death will overtake everyone who comes near, who comes near the House of the Lord: are we all to come to destruction?

Numbers 17

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to 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: write every man's name on his rod.

³You shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers' houses.

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

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

⁶Moses spoke to 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.

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

⁸It happened on the next day, 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 produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

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

¹⁰The Lord said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, that they not die."

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

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

¹³Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, dies! Will we all perish?"