Aaron’s Rod Buds

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and get rods from them, a rod for each father’s household, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods. Write every man’s name on his rod, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi [his ancestor]; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴ You shall then deposit them in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) in front of [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ It shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud, and I will no longer hear the constant grumblings of the Israelites, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ⁷ So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony (tabernacle).

⁸ Now on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and ^[a]the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had sprouted and put out buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds. ⁹ Moses brought out all the rods from the presence of Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod. ¹⁰ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebellious and contentious, so that you may put an end to their murmurings [of discontent] against Me, so that they do not die.” ¹¹ And Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹² The sons of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we perish, we are doomed, all doomed! ¹³ Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”