⁴ In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant^[a] to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”

³ Place the Ark of the Covenant^[a] inside, and install the inner curtain to enclose the Ark within the Most Holy Place.

³³ Hang the inner curtain from clasps, and put the Ark of the Covenant^[a] in the room behind it. This curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

¹⁰ Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai,^[a] where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left Egypt.

¹² he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain.

²⁰ He took the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant and placed them^[a] inside the Ark. Then he attached the carrying poles to the Ark, and he set the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—on top of it. ²¹ Then he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Tabernacle and hung the inner curtain to shield it from view, just as the Lord had commanded him.

²¹ And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

⁸ When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!

⁵ Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”