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Numbers 17
New American Standard Bible
Numbers 17
New American Standard Bible
Aaron’s Staff Buds
17 [a]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father’s household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers’ households. You shall write each man’s name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers’ households. 4 You shall then leave 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 staff of (B)the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” 6 So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers’ households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs. 7 Then Moses left the staffs before the Lord in (C)the tent of the testimony.
8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, (D)Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds. 9 Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put the staff of Aaron (E)back in front of the testimony [b]to be kept as a sign against the [c](F)rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die.” 11 Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “(G)Behold, we are passing away, we are perishing, we are all perishing! 13 (H)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 Ch 17:16 in Heb
- Numbers 17:10 Lit for preserving
- Numbers 17:10 Lit sons of rebellion
Numbers 17
Amplified Bible
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, 3 and 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. 4 You shall then deposit them in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) in front of [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 It 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.” 6 So 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. 7 So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony (tabernacle).
8 Now 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. 9 Moses brought out all the rods from the presence of Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod. 10 But 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.” 11 And Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
12 The sons of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we perish, we are doomed, all doomed! 13 Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:8 Once again God confirmed before the people His choice of Aaron as high priest and the significance of the tribe of Levi.
Numbers 17
New International Version
Numbers 17
New International Version
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
17 [a]The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs(A) from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes.(B) Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name,(C) for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the tent of meeting(D) in front of the ark of the covenant law,(E) where I meet with you.(F) 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose(G) will sprout,(H) and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling(I) against you by the Israelites.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law.(J)
8 The next day Moses entered the tent(K) and saw that Aaron’s staff,(L) which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.(M) 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs(N) from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff(O) in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious.(P) This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” 11 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost!(Q) 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die.(R) Are we all going to die?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28.
Numbers 17
King James Version
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?
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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Amplified Bible (AMP)
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