New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 The Lord said to Moses,
1
ADONAI said to Moshe,
2 "Speak to the people of Israel and get twelve walking sticks from them -- one from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on his stick, and
2
"Speak to the people of Isra'el, and take from them staffs, one for each ancestral tribe from each leader of a tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff;
3 on the stick from Levi, write Aaron's name. There must be one stick for the head of each tribe.
3
and write Aharon's name on the staff of Levi, for each tribe's leader is to have one staff.
4 Put them in the Meeting Tent in front of the Ark of the Agreement, where I meet with you.
4
Put them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you.
5 I will choose one man whose walking stick will begin to grow leaves; in this way I will stop the Israelites from always complaining against you."
5
The staff of the man I am going to choose will sprout buds - in this way I will put a stop to the complaints the people of Isra'el keep making against you."
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Each of the twelve leaders gave him a walking stick -- one from each tribe -- and Aaron's walking stick was among them.
6
Moshe spoke to the people of Isra'el, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, twelve staffs. Aharon's staff was among their staffs.
7 Moses put them before the Lord in the Tent of the Agreement.
7
Moshe put the staffs before ADONAI in the tent of the testimony.
8 The next day, when Moses entered the Tent, he saw that Aaron's stick (which stood for the family of Levi) had grown leaves. It had even budded, blossomed, and produced almonds.
8
The next day Moshe went into the tent of the testimony, and there he saw that Aharon's staff for the house of Levi had budded - it had sprouted not only buds but flowers and ripe almonds as well.
9 So Moses brought out to the Israelites all the walking sticks from the Lord's presence. They all looked, and each man took back his stick.
9
Moshe brought out all the staffs from before ADONAI to all the people of Isra'el, and they looked, and each man took back his staff.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Put Aaron's walking stick back in front of the Ark of the Agreement. It will remind these people who are always turning against me to stop their complaining against me so they won't die."
10
ADONAI said to Moshe, "Return Aharon's staff to its place in front of the testimony. It is to be kept there as a sign to the rebels, so that they will stop grumbling against me and thus not die."
11 So Moses obeyed what the Lord commanded him.
11
Moshe did this; he did as ADONAI had ordered him.
12 The people of Israel said to Moses, "We are going to die! We are destroyed. We are all destroyed!
12
But the people of Isra'el said to Moshe, "Oh no! We're dead men! Lost! We're all lost!
13 Anyone who even comes near the Holy Tent of the Lord will die. Will we all die?"
13
Whenever anyone approaches the tabernacle of ADONAI, he dies! Will we all perish?"
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.