Numbers 17
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 17
Aaron’s Staff.[a] 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and take one staff from the leaders of each of the ancestral tribes, and write each of their names on the twelve staffs. 3 Write Aaron’s name upon the staff of Levi, for there is one staff for the leader of each of the ancestral tribes. 4 You are to lay them in the tent of meeting in front of the Testimony where I meet with you. 5 The staff of the man whom I choose will blossom. Thus I will bring an end to the grumblings of the people of Israel against you.” 6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and all of the leaders gave him one staff each, one for each of the twelve ancestral tribes, and the staff of Aaron was among the other staffs. 7 So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of meeting.
8 The next day, Moses went into the tent of meeting. The staff of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had blossomed and brought forth buds.[b] It was blooming and producing almonds. 9 Moses brought all of the staffs from before the Lord out to the people of Israel. They looked at them, and each man took his staff.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff before the Testimony to be kept as a warning to the rebels. This should end their grumblings against me, so that they may not have to die.” 11 Moses did this. He did as the Lord had commanded him. 12 Then the people of Israel spoke to Moses saying, “We are dying, we are lost! We are all lost! 13 Anyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we going to die?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 The word translated staff means both “staff of command” and “genealogical tree.”
- Numbers 17:8 The staff . . . had blossomed and brought forth buds: as the Lord intended, Aaron’s staff exceeded the others in fruitfulness and was a clear sign of God’s choice of Aaron and his sons as true priests.
Numbers 17
Evangelical Heritage Version
Aaron’s Staff Is Chosen
17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and collect staffs from them, one from each father’s house, from all their tribal chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs in all. Write each man’s name on his staff. 3 Write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there will be one staff for each head of their fathers’ houses. 4 You are to place them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 The staff of the man whom I will choose will sprout. I will rid myself of the Israelites’ constant grumbling against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each one of their tribal chiefs gave him a staff, one staff for each tribal chief according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs in all. Aaron’s staff was among their staffs. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.
8 On the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony and discovered that Aaron’s staff representing the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. 9 Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked, and each man took his staff.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebellious.[a] In this way you will put an end to their grumblings against me, so that they do not die.” 11 That is what Moses did. He did just as the Lord commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost! We are all lost! 13 Everyone who approaches the Lord’s Dwelling dies! Must we all perish?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:10 Literally sons of rebellion
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.