Numbers, 17

1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses saying,

2. Speak 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 Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, to take the censers from the blaze and scatter the fire some distance away, for the censers are now holy

3. And 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.

3. because these men sinned at the cost of their lives. Let the censers be made into plates to cover the altar, because they have been offered before Yahweh and are sacred. Let them be a sign to the Israelites."

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

4. So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers of those men who were burned during the offering and had them hammered out to make a covering for the altar

5. And 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.

5. and to serve as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no one who is not a priest, a descendant of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before Yahweh, lest he become like Korah and his followers, just as Yahweh had said to Eleazer through Moses.

6. And 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.

6. On the following day, the entire community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have brought death to the people of Yahweh."

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

7. As the community was rising together against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tent of Meeting; and there was the Cloud covering it, and the Glory of Yahweh appeared.

8. And 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.

8. And Moses and Aaron went to the door of the Tent of Meeting.

9. And 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.

9. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

10. And 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.

10. "Stand away from this community; I am going to destroy them here and now." The two of them threw themselves face downward on the ground.

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

11. Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take the firepan, fill it with burning coals from the altar, put incense in it and hurry to the community to ask the mercy of Yahweh for them. The anger has come down from Yahweh and the terrible disease has begun."

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

12. Aaron did as Moses said and ran among the community, but the terrible disease was already at work among them. He put in the incense and asked for the mercy of Yahweh on the people.

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

13. Then he stood between the living and the dead, and the terrible disease stopped.

14.

14. There were 14,700 victims of the terrible disease, not counting those who died because of Korah.

15.

15. Then Aaron came back to Moses at the Tent of Meeting; the terrible disease had been stopped.

16.

16. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

17.

17. "Tell the people of Israel to give you walking sticks, one for each tribe; that is twelve sticks for the leaders of the twelve tribes, and write the name of each on his stick;

18.

18. and on the stick of Levi write the name of Aaron because he is the first among the families of Levi.

19.

19. Then put them in the Tent of Meeting before the ark, at the place where I meet you.

20.

20. The man whose stick sprouts will be the one I have chosen; this is how I shall stop the complaints that the Israelites make against you."

21.

21. Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, twelve sticks in all for their tribes; and Aaron's stick was among them.

22.

22. Moses placed them before Yahweh in the Tent of the Meeting.

23.

23. On the following day, Moses came to the Tent of the Testimony and there, already sprouting, was Aaron's stick, standing for the tribe of Levi. Buds had opened, flowers had blossomed, and almonds had already ripened.

24.

24. Moses took all the sticks away from before Yahweh and brought them back to all the people of Israel; they examined them and each one took back his own stick.

25.

25. Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's stick before the Ark and keep it as a sign to these rebels, so that I will no longer hear their complaints and they may not die."

26.

26. Moses did as Yahweh had commanded.

27.

27. The people of Israel said to Moses, "We are lost! We are all to die!

28.

28. Anyone who draws near the Holy Tent of Yahweh dies! Are we doomed to die to the last one?"