1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak 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. 3And 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. 4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5And 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¶ 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.17.6 a rod…: Heb. a rod for one prince, a rod for one prince 7And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
8And 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. 9And 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.
10¶ And the LORD 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.17.10 rebels: Heb. children of rebellion 11And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. 12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 13Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
Aaron’s Walking Stick Produces Buds
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites. Get 12 walking sticks from them. Get one from the leader of each of Israel’s tribes. Write the name of each man on his walking stick. 3Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s walking stick. There must be one stick for the head of each of Israel’s tribes. 4Put the walking sticks in the tent of meeting. Place them in front of the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. That is where I meet with you. 5The walking stick that belongs to the man I choose will begin to grow new shoots. The Israelites are never happy with what you do. I will put an end to what they are saying.”
6So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Their leaders gave him 12 walking sticks. They gave one for the leader of each of Israel’s tribes. Aaron’s walking stick was among them. 7Moses put the sticks in front of the Lord in the tent where the tablets of the covenant law were kept.
8The next day Moses entered the tent. He looked at Aaron’s walking stick. It stood for the tribe of Levi. Moses saw that it had begun to grow new shoots. It had also produced buds and flowers and almonds. 9Then Moses brought out all the walking sticks from in front of the Lord. He brought them to all the Israelites. They looked at them. And each man took his own walking stick.
10The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s walking stick back in front of the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. The stick will be kept there as a warning to those who refuse to obey. They are never happy with what I do. Aaron’s walking stick will put an end to what they are saying. Then they will not die.” 11Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.
12The Israelites said to Moses, “We’ll die! We are lost! All of us are lost! 13Anyone who even comes near the Lord’s holy tent will die. Are all of us going to die?”
