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. ³And 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. ⁴Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before ^(A)the Testimony, ^(B)where I meet with you. ⁵And 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.”

⁶So 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. ⁷And Moses placed the rods before the Lord in ^(E)the tabernacle of witness.

⁸Now 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. ⁹Then 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.

¹⁰And 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.” ¹¹Thus did Moses; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹²So 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

New Living Translation

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

17 ^[a]Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff. ³Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe. ⁴Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant,^[b] where I meet with you. ⁵Buds 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.”

⁶So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff. ⁷Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant.^[c] ⁸When 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!

⁹When Moses brought all the staffs out from the Lord’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff. ¹⁰And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant^[d] to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.” ¹¹So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

¹²Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined! ¹³Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the Lord dies. Are we all doomed to die?”

Footnotes

17:1 Verses 17:1-13 are numbered 17:16-28 in Hebrew text.
17:4 Hebrew in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony. The Hebrew word for “testimony” refers to the terms of the Lord’s covenant with Israel as written on stone tablets, which were kept in the Ark, and also to the covenant itself.
17:7 Or Tabernacle of the Testimony; also in 17:8.
17:10 Hebrew before the Testimony; see note on 17:4.

Numbers 17

Amplified Bible

Aaron’s Rod Buds

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the sons of Israel and get rods from them, a rod for each father’s household, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods. Write every man’s name on his rod, ³and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi [his ancestor]; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴You shall then deposit them in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) in front of [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵It shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud, and I will no longer hear the constant grumblings of the Israelites, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ⁷So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony (tabernacle).

⁸Now on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and ^[a]the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had sprouted and put out buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds. ⁹Moses brought out all the rods from the presence of Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod. ¹⁰But the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebellious and contentious, so that you may put an end to their murmurings [of discontent] against Me, so that they do not die.” ¹¹And Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹²The sons of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we perish, we are doomed, all doomed! ¹³Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”