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Numbers 17
New Catholic Bible
Numbers 17
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 17
Aaron’s Staff.[a] 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and take one staff from the leaders of each of the ancestral tribes, and write each of their names on the twelve staffs. 3 Write Aaron’s name upon the staff of Levi, for there is one staff for the leader of each of the ancestral tribes. 4 You are to lay them in the tent of meeting in front of the Testimony where I meet with you. 5 The staff of the man whom I choose will blossom. Thus I will bring an end to the grumblings of the people of Israel against you.” 6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and all of the leaders gave him one staff each, one for each of the twelve ancestral tribes, and the staff of Aaron was among the other staffs. 7 So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of meeting.
8 The next day, Moses went into the tent of meeting. The staff of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had blossomed and brought forth buds.[b] It was blooming and producing almonds. 9 Moses brought all of the staffs from before the Lord out to the people of Israel. They looked at them, and each man took his staff.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff before the Testimony to be kept as a warning to the rebels. This should end their grumblings against me, so that they may not have to die.” 11 Moses did this. He did as the Lord had commanded him. 12 Then the people of Israel spoke to Moses saying, “We are dying, we are lost! We are all lost! 13 Anyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we going to die?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 The word translated staff means both “staff of command” and “genealogical tree.”
- Numbers 17:8 The staff . . . had blossomed and brought forth buds: as the Lord intended, Aaron’s staff exceeded the others in fruitfulness and was a clear sign of God’s choice of Aaron and his sons as true priests.
Numbers 17
New International Version
Numbers 17
New International Version
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
17 [a]The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs(A) from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes.(B) Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name,(C) for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the tent of meeting(D) in front of the ark of the covenant law,(E) where I meet with you.(F) 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose(G) will sprout,(H) and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling(I) 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.(J)
8 The next day Moses entered the tent(K) and saw that Aaron’s staff,(L) which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.(M) 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs(N) 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(O) in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious.(P) 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!(Q) 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die.(R) Are we all going to die?”
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28.
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