Numbers 17
Legacy Standard Bible
Aaron’s Rod Buds
17 [a]Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. 4 You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of (A)the testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And it will come about that the rod of (B)the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will rid Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” 6 Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods. 7 So Moses deposited the rods before Yahweh in (C)the tent of the testimony.
8 Now it happened on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, (D)the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced flowers, and it bore ripe almonds. 9 Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of Yahweh to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. 10 But Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron (E)before the testimony [b]to be kept as a sign against the [c](F)rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.” 11 Thus Moses did; just as Yahweh had commanded him, so he did.
12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “(G)Behold, we are breathing our last breath, we are perishing, we are all perishing! 13 (H)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Yahweh, must die. Are we to breathe our utter last?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 Ch 17:16 in Heb
- Numbers 17:10 Lit for preserving
- Numbers 17:10 Lit sons of rebellion
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
Names of God Bible
Aaron’s Staff Grows
17 [a]Yahweh said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and get 12 staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their tribes.[b] Write each man’s name on his staff. 3 Write Aaron’s name on the staff for Levi because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe. 4 Put them in the tent of meeting where I meet with you, in front of the words of my promise. 5 The staff from the man I choose will begin to grow. In this way I will silence the frequent complaints the Israelites make against you and Aaron.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Their leaders gave him 12 staffs, one from the leader of each of their tribes. Aaron’s staff was among them. 7 Moses put the staffs in Yahweh’s presence in the tent of the words of God’s promise.
8 The next day Moses went into the tent. He found that Aaron’s staff for the tribe of Levi had not only begun to grow, but it had also blossomed and produced ripe almonds. 9 Moses brought out the staffs fromYahweh’s presence and showed them to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his staff.
10 Yahweh said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the words of my promise, and keep it there as a sign to warn any other rebels. Then you will stop their complaints about me, and they won’t die.”
11 Moses did exactly what Yahweh commanded him to do.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “Now we’re going to die! We’re lost! We’re all lost! 13 Anyone who comes near Yahweh’s tent will die! Are we all going to die?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 Numbers 17:1–13 in English Bibles is Numbers 17:16–28 in the Hebrew Bible.
- Numbers 17:2 There is a play on words here. Hebrew matteh can mean “staff” or “tribe.”
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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