Aaron’s Staff Buds

1And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a staff, a rod from each house of a father, all their leaders according to the house of their father, twelve rods. You shall write the name of each man on his rod. 3And you shall write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod is for the head the house of of their fathers. 4And you shall place them in the Tent of Meeting before the face of the Testimony,† where I meet with you⁺. 5And it shall come to pass that the rod of the man whom I choose, it will blossom. And I will rid Myself of the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they make against you⁺.”

6And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and each of their leaders gave to him one rod for a leader, one apiece for a leader, according to the houses of their fathers—twelve rods—and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7And Moses placed the rods before the face of YHWH in the Tent of the Testimony.

8And it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron had sprouted for the house of Levi and put forth buds and produced blossoms and yielded almonds. 9And Moses brought out all the rods from before YHWH to all the sons of Israel, and they looked, and each man took his rod.

10And YHWH said to Moses, “Bring back the rod of Aaron before the face of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put away their complaints against Me, lest they die.” 11And Moses did as YHWH had commanded him; so he did.

12And the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we have expired, we have perished, all of us have perished. 13Whoever is at all drawing near unto the tabernacle of YHWH, he must die. Shall we all utterly die?”