Numbers 17
King James Version
17 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak 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.
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.
4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will 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, 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.
7 And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.
8 And 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.
9 And 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.
11 And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.
12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.
13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
Numbers 17
New King James Version
The Budding of Aaron’s Rod
17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. 4 Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before (A)the Testimony, (B)where I meet with you. 5 And it shall be that the rod of the man (C)whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, (D)which they make against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 And Moses placed the rods before the Lord in (E)the tabernacle of witness.
8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the (F)rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Bring (G)Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept (H)as a sign against the rebels, (I)that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” 11 Thus did Moses; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
12 So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! 13 (J)Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Shall we all utterly die?”
Numbers 17
Common English Bible
Aaron’s budding staff
17 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and take from them a staff from each household, from each of the chiefs of their households, twelve staffs. Write each person’s name on his staff. 3 Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, for there will be one staff for the leader of each household. 4 Then you will place them in the meeting tent in front of the chest containing the covenant, where I meet you. 5 The staff of the person I choose will sprout. Then I will rid myself of the Israelites’ complaints that they make against you.
6 Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their chiefs gave him a staff, one staff for each chief and his household, twelve staffs, and the staff of Aaron was with their staffs. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the meeting tent. 8 The next day Moses entered the covenant tent, and Aaron’s staff of Levi’s household had sprouted. It grew shoots, produced blossoms, and bore almonds. 9 Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to the Israelites. They saw what happened, and each person took back his staff.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Return Aaron’s staff in front of the chest containing the covenant to serve as a sign to the rebels so that their complaints against me end and they don’t die.” 11 Moses did exactly as the Lord commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are perishing. We are being destroyed. All of us are being destroyed. 13 Anyone who approaches the Lord’s dwelling will die. Are we doomed to perish?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 17:16 in Heb
Numbers 17
Contemporary English Version
Aaron's Walking Stick Blooms and Produces Almonds
17 The Lord told Moses:
2-3 Call together the twelve tribes of Israel and tell the leader of each tribe to write his name on the walking stick he carries as a symbol of his authority. Make sure Aaron's name is written on the one from the Levi tribe, then collect all the sticks.
4 Place these sticks in the tent right in front of the sacred chest where I appear to you. 5 I will then choose a man to be my priest, and his stick will sprout. After that happens, I won't have to listen to any more complaints about you.
6 Moses told the people what the Lord had commanded, and they gave him the walking sticks from the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron's from the Levi tribe. 7 Moses took them and placed them in the Lord's sacred tent.
8 (A) The next day when Moses went into the tent, flowers and almonds were already growing on Aaron's stick. 9 Moses brought the twelve sticks out of the tent and showed them to the people. Each of the leaders found his own and took it.
10 But the Lord told Moses, “Put Aaron's stick back! Let it stay near the sacred chest as a warning to anyone who might think of rebelling. If these people don't stop their grumbling about me, I will wipe them out.” 11 Moses did what he was told.
12 The Israelites cried out to Moses, “We're done for 13 and doomed if we even go near the sacred tent!”
Numbers 17
New Century Version
Aaron’s Walking Stick Buds
17 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and get twelve walking sticks from them—one from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on his stick, and 3 on the stick from Levi, write Aaron’s name. There must be one stick for the head of each tribe. 4 Put them in the Meeting Tent in front of the Ark of the Agreement, where I meet with you. 5 I will choose one man whose walking stick will begin to grow leaves; in this way I will stop the Israelites from always complaining against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Each of the twelve leaders gave him a walking stick—one from each tribe—and Aaron’s walking stick was among them. 7 Moses put them before the Lord in the Tent of the Agreement.
8 The next day, when Moses entered the Tent, he saw that Aaron’s stick (which stood for the family of Levi) had grown leaves. It had even budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. 9 So Moses brought out to the Israelites all the walking sticks from the Lord’s presence. They all looked, and each man took back his stick.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s walking stick back in front of the Ark of the Agreement. It will remind these people who are always turning against me to stop their complaining against me so they won’t die.” 11 So Moses obeyed what the Lord commanded him.
12 The people of Israel said to Moses, “We are going to die! We are destroyed. We are all destroyed! 13 Anyone who even comes near the Holy Tent of the Lord will die. Will we all die?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.