1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the sons of Israel and take of each of them a rod according to the houses of their fathers, of all their princes, twelve rods according to the houses of their fathers, and write thou each man’s name upon his rod. 3 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi, for each head of family of their fathers shall have one rod. 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the testimony, before the testimony, where I will testify of myself unto you. 5 And it shall come to pass regarding the man whom I shall choose that his rod shall blossom; and I will resolve the complaints of the sons of Israel, with which they murmur against you. 6 And Moses spoke unto the sons of Israel, and all their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of the testimony.
8 And it came to pass that on the next day Moses went into the tabernacle of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron of the house of Levi had budded and blossomed and brought forth open flowers and yielded almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod. 10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Return Aaron’s rod before the testimony to be kept for a sign unto the rebellious sons; and thou shalt cause their complaints to cease from upon me, that they not die. 11 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
12 Then the sons of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying, Behold, we are dead, we are lost, we are all lost. 13 Anyone who comes near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die; shall we all perish?