The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

²Speak to the Israelites, and take from them a rod, a rod for the house of their fathers, from all their leaders according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod.

³You will write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi, because one rod will be for each father’s house.

⁴You will lay them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁵It will be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud. Thus I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, that they have been making against you.[#Nu 16:5; #Nu 16:11]

⁶Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each one of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

⁷Moses laid the rods before the Lord in the tent of witness.[#Ex 38:21; Ac 7:44]

⁸On the next day Moses went into the tent of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms, and yielded almonds.[#Eze 17:24]

⁹Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the Israelites, and they looked, and each man took his rod.

¹⁰The Lord said to Moses, “Return the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a warning to rebels, that you may put an end to their complaints before Me, or else they will die.”[#Heb 9:4; #Nu 16:38]

¹¹Moses did so. As the Lord commanded him, so he did.

¹²The Israelites spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish, we perish, we all perish.

¹³Anyone approaching the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?”