Aaron’s Walking Stick Buds

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the people of Israel. Get 12 walking sticks from them. Get 1 from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on his stick. ³ On the stick from Levi, write Aaron’s name. There must be 1 stick for the head of each tribe. ⁴ Put them in the Meeting Tent. Place them in front of the Ark of the Covenant, where I meet with you. ⁵ I will choose one man. His stick will begin to grow leaves. And I will stop the Israelites from always complaining against you.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Each of the 12 leaders gave him a walking stick. 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 Moses entered the Tent. He saw that Aaron’s stick had grown leaves. (It stood for the family of Levi.) 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. Put it in front of the Ark of the Covenant. It will be a sign to these people who are always turning against me. This will stop their complaining against me. Now 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 lost. We are all lost! ¹³ Anyone who even comes near the Holy Tent of the Lord will die. Will we all die?”