- And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 17:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods of them, according to the houses of their families, a rod from all their princes, according to the houses of their families, twelve rods, and write the name of each on his rod.
Num 17:3 And write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi; for it is one rod for each: they shall give them according to the tribe of the house of their families.
Num 17:4 And thou shalt put them in the tabernacle of witness, before the testimony, where I will be made known to thee.
Num 17:5 And it shall be, the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall blossom; and I will remove from me the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.
Num 17:6 And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him a rod each, for one chief a rod, according to the house of their families, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was in the midst of the rods.
Num 17:7 And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.
Num 17:8 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi blossomed, and put forth a bud, and bloomed blossoms and produced almonds.
Num 17:9 And Moses brought forth all the rods from before the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod.
Num 17:10 And the Lord said to Moses, Lay up the rod of Aaron before the testimonies to be kept as a sign for the children of the disobedient; and let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not die.
Num 17:11 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.
Num 17:12 And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.
Num 17:13 Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies; shall we die utterly?
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]