New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man's name on his staff,
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Say to the children of Israel that they are to give you rods, one for every family, for every chief, the head of his father's house, making twelve rods; let every man's name be placed on his rod.
3 and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral house.
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And let Aaron's name be placed on the rod of Levi: for there is to be one rod for the head of every family.
4 Place them in the tent of meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you.
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And let them be stored up in the Tent of meeting, in front of the ark of witness where I come to you.
5 And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make against you.
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And the rod of that man who is marked out by me for myself will have buds on it; so I will put a stop to the outcries which the children of Israel make to me against you.
6 Moses spoke to the Israelites; and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs; and the staff of Aaron was among theirs.
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So Moses gave these orders to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him rods, one for the head of every family, making twelve rods: and Aaron's rod was among them.
7 So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant.
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And Moses put the rods before the Lord in the Tent of witness.
8 When Moses went into the tent of the covenant on the next day, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.
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Now on the day after, Moses went into the Tent of witness; and he saw that Aaron's rod, the rod of the house of Levi, had put out buds, and was covered with buds and flowers and fruit.
9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his staff.
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Then Moses took out all the rods from before the Lord, and gave them back to the children of Israel: and they saw them, and every man took his rod.
10 And the Lord said to Moses, "Put back the staff of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept as a warning to rebels, so that you may make an end of their complaints against me, or else they will die."
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And the Lord said to Moses, Put Aaron's rod back in front of the ark of witness, to be kept for a sign against this false-hearted people, so that you may put a stop to their outcries against me, and death may not overtake them.
11 Moses did so; just as the Lord commanded him, so he did.
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This Moses did: as the Lord gave orders, so he did.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, "We are perishing; we are lost, all of us are lost!
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And the children of Israel said to Moses, Truly, destruction has come on us; an evil fate has overtaken us all.
13 Everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?"
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Death will overtake everyone who comes near, who comes near the House of the Lord: are we all to come to destruction?
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.