民数记 17
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
亚伦的杖
17 耶和华对摩西说： 2 “你叫以色列各支派的首领每人拿一根杖来，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，包括亚伦的杖在内，共十二根。 7 他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 摩西就从耶和华那里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，我们岂不是全都要灭亡吗？”
Numbers 17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 17
1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Tell Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, to remove the censers from the embers; and scatter the fire some distance away, for they have become holy— 3 [a]the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their lives. Have them hammered into plates to cover the altar, because in being presented before the Lord they have become holy. In this way they shall serve as a sign to the Israelites. 4 So taking the bronze censers which had been presented by those who were burned, Eleazar the priest had them hammered into a covering for the altar, 5 just as the Lord had directed him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no unauthorized person, no one who was not a descendant of Aaron, should draw near to offer incense before the Lord, lest he meet the fate of Korah and his faction.
6 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” 7 But while the community was assembling against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the tent of meeting, and the cloud now covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. 8 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 9 and the Lord said to Moses: 10 Remove yourselves from this community, that I may consume them at once. But they fell prostrate.
11 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, and bring it quickly to the community to make atonement for them; for wrath has come forth from the Lord and the plague has begun.”(A) 12 Aaron took his censer just as Moses directed and ran in among the assembly, where the plague had already begun among the people. Then he offered the incense and made atonement for the people, 13 while standing there between the living and the dead. And so the scourge was checked. 14 There were fourteen thousand seven hundred dead from the scourge, in addition to those who died because of Korah. 15 When the scourge had been checked, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Aaron’s Staff. 16 The Lord now said to Moses: 17 Speak to the Israelites and get from them a staff[b] for each ancestral house, twelve staffs in all, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff; 18 and write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff.[c] For each head of an ancestral house shall have a staff. 19 Then deposit them in the tent of meeting, in front of the covenant, where I meet you. 20 The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will rid myself of the Israelites’ grumbling against you.
21 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and all their leaders gave him staffs, twelve in all, one from each leader of their ancestral houses; and Aaron’s staff was among them. 22 Then Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant. 23 The next day, when Moses entered the tent of the covenant, Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted. It had put forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne ripe almonds! 24 So Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites, and each one identified his own staff and took it. 25 Then the Lord said to Moses: Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the covenant, for safe keeping as a sign to the rebellious, so that their grumbling against me may cease and they might not die. 26 Moses did this. Just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
Charge of the Sacred Things. 27 [d]Then the Israelites exclaimed to Moses, “We will perish; we are lost, we are all lost! 28 Anyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Will there be no end to our perishing?”
Footnotes
- 17:3 Whatever was brought into intimate contact with something holy shared in its holiness. See note on 19:20.
- 17:17 The staff was not merely an article of practical use, but also a symbol of authority; cf. Gn 49:10; Nm 24:17; Jer 48:17. Therefore, the staff of a leader of a tribe was considered the emblem of the tribe; in fact, certain Hebrew words such as matteh, the word for “staff” here, also mean “tribe.” Perhaps for this reason, to avoid confusion, the author here uses the term bet’ab, “ancestral house,” for “tribe” instead of one of the ordinary words for “tribe.”
- 17:18 Levi’s staff: it is not clear whether this is considered as one of the twelve mentioned in the preceding verse, or as a thirteenth staff. Sometimes Levi is reckoned as one of the twelve tribes (e.g., Dt 27:12–13), but more often the number twelve is arrived at by counting the two sub-tribes of Joseph, i.e., Ephraim and Manasseh, as distinct tribes. In this passage also it seems probable that the tribe of Levi is considered apart from the other twelve tribes.
- 17:27–28 The people’s distress here echoes their panic in 16:34, and may be heightened further by the death of the two hundred and fifty leaders offering incense in 16:35.
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?
民 數 記 17
Chinese Union Version (Traditional)
17 耶 和 華 對 摩 西 說 ：
2 你 曉 諭 以 色 列 人 ， 從 他 們 手 下 取 杖 ， 每 支 派 一 根 ； 從 他 們 所 有 的 首 領 ， 按 著 支 派 ， 共 取 十 二 根 。 你 要 將 各 人 的 名 字 寫 在 各 人 的 杖 上 ，
3 並 要 將 亞 倫 的 名 字 寫 在 利 未 的 杖 上 ， 因 為 各 族 長 必 有 一 根 杖 。
4 你 要 把 這 些 杖 存 在 會 幕 內 法 櫃 前 ， 就 是 我 與 你 們 相 會 之 處 。
5 後 來 我 所 揀 選 的 那 人 ， 他 的 杖 必 發 芽 。 這 樣 ， 我 必 使 以 色 列 人 向 你 們 所 發 的 怨 言 止 息 ， 不 再 達 到 我 耳 中 。
6 於 是 摩 西 曉 諭 以 色 列 人 ， 他 們 的 首 領 就 把 杖 交 給 他 ， 按 著 支 派 ， 每 首 領 一 根 ， 共 有 十 二 根 ； 亞 倫 的 杖 也 在 其 中 。
7 摩 西 就 把 杖 存 在 法 櫃 的 帳 幕 內 ， 在 耶 和 華 面 前 。
8 第 二 天 ， 摩 西 進 法 櫃 的 帳 幕 去 。 誰 知 利 未 族 亞 倫 的 杖 已 經 發 了 芽 ， 生 了 花 苞 ， 開 了 花 ， 結 了 熟 杏 。
9 摩 西 就 把 所 有 的 杖 從 耶 和 華 面 前 拿 出 來 ， 給 以 色 列 眾 人 看 ； 他 們 看 見 了 ， 各 首 領 就 把 自 己 的 杖 拿 去 。
10 耶 和 華 吩 咐 摩 西 說 ： 把 亞 倫 的 杖 還 放 在 法 櫃 前 ， 給 這 些 背 叛 之 子 留 作 記 號 。 這 樣 ， 你 就 使 他 們 向 我 發 的 怨 言 止 息 ， 免 得 他 們 死 亡 。
11 摩 西 就 這 樣 行 。 耶 和 華 怎 樣 吩 咐 他 ， 他 就 怎 樣 行 了 。
12 以 色 列 人 對 摩 西 說 ： 我 們 死 喇 ！ 我 們 滅 亡 喇 ！ 都 滅 亡 喇 ！
13 凡 挨 近 耶 和 華 帳 幕 的 是 必 死 的 。 我 們 都 要 死 亡 麼 ？
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