CHAPTER 17
1 And the Lord spake to Moses, saying,
2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and take thou rods, by their kindreds, by each kindred one rod, take thou of all the princes of the lineages twelve rods; and thou shalt write the name of each lineage upon his rod;
3 soothly the name of Aaron shall be written in the lineage of Levi, and one rod shall contain all the meines of Levi.
4 And thou shalt put those rods in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, before the witnessing, where I shall speak with thee;
5 the rod of him shall burgeon, whom I shall choose of them to the office of priesthood; and I shall thereby refrain, or quench, from me the complainings, or grutchings, of the sons of Israel, by which they grutch against you.
6 And Moses spake to the sons of Israel; and all the princes gave to him rods, by all their lineages; and the rods were twelve, without the rod of Aaron.
7 And when Moses had put those rods before the Lord, in the tabernacle of witnessing,
8 he went again in the day pursuing [or following], and found that the rod of Aaron, in the house of Levi, had burgeoned; and when [the] knops were great, the blossoms had broken out, which were alarged in leaves, and were formed into almonds.
9 Therefore Moses brought forth all the rods from the sight of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they saw, and received each his rod.
10 And the Lord said to Moses, Bear thou again the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of witnessing, that it be kept there into a token of the rebel sons of Israel, and that their complainings, or grutchings, cease from me, lest they die.
11 And Moses did, as the Lord commanded.
12 Soothly the sons of Israel said to Moses, Lo! we be wasted, all we have perished;
13 whoever nigheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth; whether we shall all be done away unto the death?