| Holman Christian Standard Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1The LORD instructed Moses: " | 1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, |
| 2Speak to the Israelites and take one staff from them for each ancestral house, 12 staffs from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man's name on his staff. | 2“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, |
| 3Write Aaron's name on Levi's staff, because there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. | 3and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house. |
| 4Then place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony where I meet with you. | 4Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. |
| 5The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the Israelites' complaints that they have been making about you." | 5And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” |
| 6So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each of the leaders of their ancestral houses, 12 staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them. | 6Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. |
| 7Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. | 7And Moses deposited the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. |
| 8The next day Moses entered the tent of the testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds! | 8On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. |
| 9Moses then brought out all the staffs from the LORD's presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff. | 9Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the LORD to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. |
| 10The LORD told Moses, "Put Aaron's staff back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign for the rebels, so that you may put an end to their complaints before Me, or else they will die." | 10And the LORD said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” |
| 11So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. | 11Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so he did. |
| 12Then the Israelites declared to Moses, "Look, we're perishing! We're lost; we're all lost! | 12And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. |
| 13Anyone who comes near the LORD's tabernacle will die. Will we all perish?" | 13Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?” |
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