Numbers 17

AARON’S STAFF CHOSEN

17The 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. Write each man’s name on his staff. ³Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, because there is to be one staff for the head of each tribe. ⁴Then place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony where I meet with you. ⁵The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of the Israelites’ complaints that they have been making about you.”

⁶So 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.^{e 7}Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.

⁸The 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! ⁹Moses 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. ¹⁰The Lord told Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign^f for the rebels, so that you may put an end to their complaints before me, or else they will die.”^{g 11}So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

¹²Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we’re perishing! We’re lost; we’re all lost! ¹³Anyone who comes near the Lord’s tabernacle will die.^h Will we all perish?”