Numbers 16:36–17:13

^36bThen the Lord spoke to Moses: ³⁷“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the firepans from the burning debris, because they are holy, and scatter the fire far away. ³⁸As for the firepans of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, make them into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, for they presented them before the Lord, and the firepans are holy. They will be a sign to the Israelites.”

³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the bronze firepans that those who were burned had presented, and they were hammered into plating for the altar, ⁴⁰just as the Lord commanded him through Moses. It was to be a reminder for the Israelites that no unauthorized person outside the lineage of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord ^cand become like Korah and his followers.

⁴¹The next day the entire Israelite community complained about Moses and Aaron, ^dsaying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!” ⁴²When the community assembled against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the tent of meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the Lord’s glory appeared.

⁴³Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴and the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵“Get away from this community so that I may consume them instantly.” ^eBut they fell facedown.

⁴⁶Then Moses told Aaron, “Take your firepan, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the community and make atonement for them, because wrath has come from the Lord; the plague has begun.” ⁴⁷So Aaron took his firepan as Moses had ordered, ran into the middle of the assembly, and saw that the plague had begun among the people. After he added incense, he made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was halted. ⁴⁹But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who died because of the Korah incident. ⁵⁰Aaron then returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, since the plague had been halted. ^f

Aaron’s Staff Chosen

17^gThe Lord instructed Moses: ²“Speak to the Israelites and take one staff from them for each ancestral house, 12 staffs from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff. ³Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, because there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. 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 ancestral houses, 12 staffs in all. Aaron’s staff was among them. ^h7Moses 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 ⁱfor the rebels, so that you may put an end to their complaints before Me, or else they will die.” ^j11So 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. ^kWill we all perish?”