Numbers 16:36–17:13

³⁶¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷“Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the ¹blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the ²burning coals abroad.

³⁸“As for the censers of these ¹men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and ^athey shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.”

³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,

⁴⁰as a ¹reminder to the sons of Israel that ^ano ²layman who is not of the ³descendants of Aaron should come near ^bto burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him ⁴through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^agrumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people.”

⁴²It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and ^athe glory of the Lord appeared.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,

⁴⁴and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“^1aGet away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^amake atonement for them, for ^bwrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!”

⁴⁷Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. ^aSo he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.

^49aBut those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who ^bdied on account of Korah.

⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

Chapter 17

Aaron’s Rod Buds

¹¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod,

³and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; 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 in front of ^athe testimony, where I meet with you.

⁵“It will come about that the rod of ^athe man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.”

⁶Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.

⁷So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in ^athe tent of the testimony.

⁸Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, ^athe rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

⁹Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

¹⁰But the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron ^abefore the testimony ¹to be kept as a sign against the ^2brebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.”

¹¹Thus Moses did; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹²Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “^aBehold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying!

¹³“^aEveryone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”