| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: | 1 Then the LORD said to 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. | 2“Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’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. | 3Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe. |
| 4Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. | 4Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, 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.” | 5Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against 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 gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff. |
| 7And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. | 7Moses placed the staffs in the LORD’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant. |
| 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. | 8When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe 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. | 9When Moses brought all the staffs out from the LORD’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed 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.” | 10And the LORD said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.” |
| 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 people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined! |
| 13Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?” | 13Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the LORD dies. Are we all doomed to die?” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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