Numbers 17

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

1The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

2Speak 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.

2"Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve staffs. A staff is a long wooden walking stick. Take one staff from the leader of each family tribe. Write each man's name on his own staff.

NoteA "rod" here is a staff, a long wooden stick that a leader carried to show who he was. It is not a stick for hitting.

3And 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.

3Write Aaron's name on the staff for the tribe of Levi. There must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

4Put the staffs inside the tent where I meet with you. Set them in front of the ark, the special box.

NoteThe KJV calls it "the tabernacle of the congregation" and "the testimony." The tabernacle was a large tent where God met with his people. The testimony was the box, or ark, that held the stone tablets with God's laws.

5And 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.

5Buds will grow on the staff of the man I choose. Then I will stop the people from complaining about you."

6And 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.

6So Moses told this to the people of Israel. Each tribe leader handed him one staff. That made twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was there with the others.

7And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.

7Moses set the staffs before the LORD inside the tent.

8And 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.

8The next day Moses went into the tent again. He looked at Aaron's staff, the one for the tribe of Levi. Buds had grown on it. Flowers had opened on it. Ripe almonds were growing on it too.

9And 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.

9Moses carried all the staffs out from the LORD's tent. He showed them to all the people of Israel. They looked at them. Then each man took back his own staff.

10And 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.

10The LORD said to Moses, "Put Aaron's staff back in front of the ark. Keep it there as a sign for people who fight against me. It will put a stop to their complaining, so they will not die."

11And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

11Moses did just what the LORD told him to do.

12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

12The people of Israel said to Moses, "Look, we are dying! We are lost! We are all lost!

13Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

13Anyone who comes near the LORD's tent will die. Are we all going to die?"