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17:1  The Lord said to Moses,
17:2  ‘Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff.
17:3  On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe.
17:4  Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you.
17:5  The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.’
17:6  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.
17:7  Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law.
17:8  The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
17:9  Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff.
17:10  The Lord said to Moses, ‘Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.’
17:11  Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.
17:12  The Israelites said to Moses, ‘We shall die! We are lost, we are all lost!
17:13  Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?’