Numbers, 17

1. Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said,

1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2. 'Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick the censers out of the smouldering remains and scatter the fire from them away from here,

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.

3. for these sinful censers have become sanctified at the price of human lives. Since they were brought before Yahweh and thus became consecrated, they must be hammered into sheets to cover the altar. They will be an object-lesson to the Israelites.'

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.

4. The priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which had been carried by the men destroyed by the fire. They were hammered into sheets to cover the altar.

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

5. They are a reminder to the Israelites that no unauthorised person, no one not of Aaron's line, may approach and offer incense before Yahweh, on pain of suffering the fate of Korah and his party, as Yahweh had said through Moses.

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.

6. On the following day, the whole community of Israelites were muttering against Moses and Aaron and saying, 'You are responsible for killing Yahweh's people!'

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.

7. Now, as the community was banding together against Moses and Aaron, they turned towards the Tent of Meeting, and there was the cloud covering it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared.

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

8. Moses and Aaron then went to the front of the Tent of Meeting.

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.

9. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

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.

10. 'Get away from this community. I am going to destroy them here and now.' They threw themselves on their faces.

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.

11. Moses then said to Aaron, 'Take a censer, put fire in it from the altar, place incense on it and hurry to the community to perform the rite of expiation for them: for retribution has come from Yahweh, plague has broken out.'

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

12. Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the middle of the community, but plague had already broken out among the people. He put in the incense and performed the rite of expiation for the people.

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

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

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

14. There were fourteen thousand seven hundred victims of the plague, apart from those who died because of Korah.

14.

15. Aaron then went back to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting; the plague had been halted.

15.

16. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

16.

17. 'Tell the Israelites to give you a branch for each of their families, one for each leader of each family: twelve branches. Write the name of each on his branch;

17.

18. and on the branch of Levi write Aaron's name, since the head of the Levite families must have a branch too.

18.

19. You will then put them inside the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I make myself known to you.

19.

20. The man whose branch sprouts will be the one I have chosen; this is how I shall put an end to the mutterings of the Israelites about you.'

20.

21. Moses spoke to the Israelites, and all their leaders gave him one branch each, twelve branches in all for their families; Aaron's branch was among them.

21.

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

22.

23. On the following day Moses went to the Tent of the Testimony and there, already sprouting, was Aaron's branch, representing the House of Levi; buds had formed, flowers had bloomed and almonds had already ripened.

23.

24. Moses then brought out all the branches from before Yahweh to all the Israelites; they examined them and each one took back his own branch.

24.

25. Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Put Aaron's branch back in front of the Testimony, where it will have its ritual place as a warning to the rebellious; thus you will rid me of their muttering for good, without their incurring death.'

25.

26. Moses did as Yahweh had ordered. That is what he did.

26.

27. The Israelites then said to Moses, 'We are lost! We are dead men! We are all dead men!

27.

28. Anyone who approaches Yahweh's Dwelling with an offering will die. Are we to be doomed to the last man?'

28.