Numbers 17

The LORD spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the Israelites and take from them a staff for each ancestral household, from all their leaders according to their ancestral households, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff. Write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi, for there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral household. Place them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I will meet with you. The staff of the man I choose shall blossom. Thus I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they make against you.” Moses spoke to the Israelites, and all their leaders gave him staffs, a staff for each leader, a staff for each leader according to their ancestral households, twelve staffs. Aaron's staff was among their staffs. Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the Testimony. The next day Moses entered the tent of the Testimony, and Aaron's staff for the house of Levi had sprouted. It had put out buds, produced blossoms, and ripened almonds. Moses brought all the staffs from before the LORD to all the Israelites. They looked, and each man took his staff. The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron's staff back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious. Thus you shall put an end to their complaints against me, so that they do not die.” Moses did so. As the LORD had commanded him, so he did. The Israelites said to Moses, “Look, we are dying! We are lost! All of us are lost! Everyone who draws near, who draws near to the LORD's tabernacle, will die. Will we all end up dying?”

Rights and attribution