The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28. 1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you. 5The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”
6So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. 7Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law.
8The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. 9Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff.
10The Lord said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” 11Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.
12The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! 13Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?”
亚伦的杖
1耶和华对摩西说： 2“你要吩咐以色列人从每个支派的首领那里拿一根杖来，共十二根，你要在上面写上他们各人的名字。 3你要把亚伦的名字写在利未支派的杖上，每个支派的首领都要有一根杖。 4你要把这些杖放在会幕内的约柜前，就是我跟你会面的地方。 5谁的杖发芽，谁就是我所拣选的人。这样，我必消除以色列人对你们的埋怨。” 6于是，摩西吩咐以色列每个支派的首领把杖都交给他，共十二根，亚伦的杖也在其中。 7摩西把杖放在放约柜的圣幕里、耶和华面前。 8第二天，摩西进入约柜所在的圣幕里，看见利未支派亚伦的杖不单发了芽，长了花蕾，还开了花，结出熟杏。 9摩西就从耶和华面前拿出所有的杖，给以色列人看。他们看后，各位首领便取回自己的杖。 10耶和华对摩西说：“把亚伦的杖放回约柜前，让叛逆之徒引以为戒。这样，你就可以平息他们对我的怨言，使他们不致灭亡。” 11摩西照耶和华的吩咐行了。 12以色列人对摩西说：“完了！我们死定了！我们全死定了！ 13凡走近耶和华圣幕的都要死。我们全都要灭亡吗？”
