17 And the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and
take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers,
of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods:
write thou every man's name upon his rod. 3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon
the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their
fathers. 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle
of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5 And it shall come to pass, that the man's
rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me
the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. 6 And Moses spake unto the children of
Israel, and every one of 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 And Moses
laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 8 And
it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of
witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded,
and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 And
Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children
of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10 And
the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony,
to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away
their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11 And
Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. 12 And
the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish,
we all perish. 13 Whosoever
cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall
we be consumed with dying?