1 Y ahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

¶ And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

2 “ Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod.

Speak unto the sons of Israel and take of each of them a rod according to the houses of their fathers, of all their princes, twelve rods according to the houses of their fathers, and write thou each man’s name upon his rod.

3 Y ou shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.

And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi, for each head of family of their fathers shall have one rod.

4 Y ou shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.

And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the testimony, before the testimony, where I will testify of myself unto you.

5 I t shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”

And it shall come to pass regarding the man whom I shall choose that his rod shall blossom; and I will resolve the complaints of the sons of Israel, with which they murmur against you.

6 M oses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was among their rods.

And Moses spoke unto the sons of Israel, and all 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 M oses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the tent of the testimony.

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

8 O n the next day, Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

¶ And it came to pass that on the next day Moses went into the tabernacle of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron of the house of Levi had budded and blossomed and brought forth open flowers and yielded almonds.

9 M oses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.

Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod.

10 Y ahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, that they not die.”

And the LORD said unto Moses, Return Aaron’s rod before the testimony to be kept for a sign unto the rebellious sons; and thou shalt cause their complaints to cease from upon me, that they not die.

11 M oses did so. As Yahweh commanded him, so he did.

And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

12 T he children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone!

Then the sons of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying, Behold, we are dead, we are lost, we are all lost.

13 E veryone who keeps approaching Yahweh’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”

Anyone who comes near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die; shall we all perish?