| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: | 1The LORD instructed Moses: " |
| 2“Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. | 2Speak to the Israelites and take one staff from them for each ancestral house, 12 staffs from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man's name on his staff. |
| 3And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. | 3Write Aaron's name on Levi's staff, because there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. |
| 4Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. | 4Then place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony where I meet with you. |
| 5And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you.” | 5The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the Israelites' complaints that they have been making about you." |
| 6So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. | 6So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each of the leaders of their ancestral houses, 12 staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them. |
| 7And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. | 7Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. |
| 8Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. | 8The next day Moses entered the tent of the testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds! |
| 9Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. | 9Moses then brought out all the staffs from the LORD's presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff. |
| 10And the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” | 10The LORD told Moses, "Put Aaron's staff back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign for the rebels, so that you may put an end to their complaints before Me, or else they will die." |
| 11Thus did Moses; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did. | 11So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. |
| 12So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! | 12Then the Israelites declared to Moses, "Look, we're perishing! We're lost; we're all lost! |
| 13Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?” | 13Anyone who comes near the LORD's tabernacle will die. Will we all perish?" |
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