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The Budding of Aaron’s Staff ¹ In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28. The LORD said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. ³ On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. ⁴ Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you.

⁵ The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.” ⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them.

⁷ Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the covenant law. ⁸ The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.

⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD ’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff. ¹⁰ The LORD said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.”

¹¹ Moses did just as the LORD commanded him. ¹² The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! ¹³ Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?”