The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 God spoke to Moses:
1
Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 "Speak to the People of Israel. Get staffs from them - twelve staffs in all, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write each man's name on his staff.
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“Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff.
3 Start with Aaron; write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi and then proceed with the rest, a staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe.
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Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe.
4 Now lay them out in the Tent of Meeting in front of The Testimony where I keep appointments with you.
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Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you.
5 What will happen next is this: The staff of the man I choose will sprout. I'm going to put a stop to this endless grumbling by the People of Israel against you."
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Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”
6 Moses spoke to the People of Israel. Their leaders handed over twelve staffs, one for the leader of each tribe. And Aaron's staff was one of them.
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So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff.
7 Moses laid out the staffs before God in the Tent of Testimony.
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Moses placed the staffs in the LORD ’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant.
8 Moses walked into the Tent of Testimony the next day and saw that Aaron's staff, the staff of the tribe of Levi, had in fact sprouted - buds, blossoms, and even ripe almonds!
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When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!
9 Moses brought out all the staffs from God's presence and presented them to the People of Israel. They took a good look. Each leader took the staff with his name on it.
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When Moses brought all the staffs out from the LORD ’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff.
10 God said to Moses, "Return Aaron's staff to the front of The Testimony. Keep it there as a sign to rebels. This will put a stop to the grumbling against me and save their lives."
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And the LORD said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”
11 Moses did just as God commanded him.
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So Moses did as the LORD commanded him.
12 The People of Israel said to Moses, "We're as good as dead. This is our death sentence.
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Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined!
13 Anyone who even gets close to The Dwelling of God is as good as dead. Are we all doomed?"
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Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the LORD dies. Are we all doomed to die?”
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.