Numbers 17
Common English Bible
Aaron’s budding staff
17 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and take from them a staff from each household, from each of the chiefs of their households, twelve staffs. Write each person’s name on his staff. 3 Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, for there will be one staff for the leader of each household. 4 Then you will place them in the meeting tent in front of the chest containing the covenant, where I meet you. 5 The staff of the person I choose will sprout. Then I will rid myself of the Israelites’ complaints that they make against you.
6 Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their chiefs gave him a staff, one staff for each chief and his household, twelve staffs, and the staff of Aaron was with their staffs. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the meeting tent. 8 The next day Moses entered the covenant tent, and Aaron’s staff of Levi’s household had sprouted. It grew shoots, produced blossoms, and bore almonds. 9 Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to the Israelites. They saw what happened, and each person took back his staff.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Return Aaron’s staff in front of the chest containing the covenant to serve as a sign to the rebels so that their complaints against me end and they don’t die.” 11 Moses did exactly as the Lord commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are perishing. We are being destroyed. All of us are being destroyed. 13 Anyone who approaches the Lord’s dwelling will die. Are we doomed to perish?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 17:16 in Heb
Numbers 17
Modern English Version
The Budding of Aaron’s Rod
17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the children of Israel, and take from them a rod, a rod for the house of their fathers, from all their leaders according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 You will write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi, because one rod will be for each father’s house. 4 You will lay them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5 It will be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud. Thus I will rid myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, that they have been making against you.
6 Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each one of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 Moses laid the rods before the Lord in the tent of witness.
8 When Moses went into the tent of witness the next day, the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi, had sprouted. It brought forth buds, produced blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel, and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Return the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a warning to rebels, that you may put an end to their complaints before Me, or else they will die.” 11 Moses did so. As the Lord commanded him, so he did.
12 The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we expire, we perish, we all perish. 13 Anyone approaching the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.