Numbers 17

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

^1aThen the Lord said to Moses, 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. 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. ⁴Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant,^b where I meet with 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 gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff. ⁷Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant.^{c 8}When 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!

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: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant^d to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.” ¹¹So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

¹²Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined! ¹³Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the Lord dies. Are we all doomed to die?”