Chapter 17

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²Speak to the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of every man upon his rod. ³And the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod shall contain all their families: ⁴And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to thee. ⁵Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, wherewith they murmur against you. ⁶And Moses spoke to the children of Israel: and all the princes gave him rods one for every tribe: and there were twelve rods besides the rod of Aaron. ⁷And when Moses had laid them up before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony: ⁸He returned on the following day, and found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded: and that the buds swelling it had bloomed blossoms, which spreading the leaves, were formed into almonds. ⁹Moses therefore brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel: and they saw, and every one received their rods. ¹⁰And the Lord said to Moses: Carry back the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be kept there for a token of the rebellious children of Israel, and that their complaints may cease from me lest they die. ¹¹And Moses did as the Lord had commanded. ¹²And the children of Israel said to Moses: Behold we are consumed, we all perish. ¹³Whosoever approacheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth. Are we all to a man to be utterly destroyed?