Numbers 17
English Standard Version
Aaron's Staff Buds
17 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 (A)“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. 4 Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, (B)where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man (C)whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me (D)the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” 6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7 And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in (E)the tent of the testimony.
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back (F)the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept (G)as a sign for the rebels, (H)that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” 11 Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.
12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13 (I)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?”
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- Numbers 17:1 Ch 17:16 in Hebrew
Numbers 17
Christian Standard Bible
Aaron’s Staff Chosen
17 The Lord instructed Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and take one staff from them for each ancestral tribe,[a] twelve staffs from all the leaders of their tribes.[b] Write each man’s name on his staff. 3 Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, because there is to be one staff for the head of each tribe. 4 Then place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony where I meet with you. 5 The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of the Israelites’ complaints that they have been making about you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron’s staff was among them.(A) 7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.
8 The next day Moses entered the tent of the testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds! 9 Moses then brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff. 10 The Lord told Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign(B) for the rebels, so that you may put an end to their complaints before me, or else they will die.”(C) 11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.
12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we’re perishing! We’re lost; we’re all lost! 13 Anyone who comes near the Lord’s tabernacle will die.(D) Will we all perish?”
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