Numbers 17 — NETB

17Verse 1The Lord spoke to Moses:^{Verse 2}“Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, one from every tribal leader, twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff.^{Verse 3}You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe.^{Verse 4}You must place them in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant where I meet with you.^{Verse 5}And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”^{Verse 6}So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, according to their tribes – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.^{Verse 7}Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.^{Verse 8}On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds!^{Verse 9}So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his staff.

The Memorial

^{Verse 10}The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end before me, that they will not die.”^{Verse 11}So Moses did as the Lord commanded him – this is what he did.^{Verse 12}The Israelites said to Moses, “We are bound to die! We perish, we all perish!^{Verse 13}Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?”