1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, and have him take the censers out of the burning remains and scatter the fire some distance away, for the censers are holy.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.

3 Take the censers of these men who sinned against their own lives and have them made into hammered plates to overlay the altar, for they presented them before the LORD, and they became holy. Let them serve as a sign to the Israelites.

And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.

4 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been brought by those who were burned, and they were hammered into a covering for the altar.

And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

5 It is to be a reminder to the Israelites, so that no unauthorized person—anyone who is not from Aaron’s descendants—may come near to burn incense before the LORD and become like Korah and his assembly, as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses.

And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

6 The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron the next day, saying, 'You have killed the LORD’s people!'

And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

7 When the assembly gathered against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting, and there the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.

And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.

8 Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting.

And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

9 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

10 'Move away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.' And they fell facedown.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

11 Moses said to Aaron, 'Take your censer and put incense on it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.'

And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

12 So Aaron did as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the assembly, and the plague had already begun among the people. He put the incense in and made atonement for the people.

And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

13 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was stopped.

Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

14 The number of those who died in the plague was fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who had died because of Korah.

15 Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague had been stopped.

16 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

17 Speak to the Israelites and take from them a staff, one for each ancestral tribe, from all their leaders according to their ancestral houses—twelve staffs in total. Write each man’s name on his staff.

18 Write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral house.

19 Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant, where I meet with you.

20 The man I choose will have his staff sprout, and this will put an end to the Israelites’ complaints against you.

21 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs in total, one from each leader of their households, and Aaron’s staff was among them.

22 Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the covenant.

23 The next day Moses entered the tent of the covenant, and Aaron’s staff for the family of Levi had sprouted. It had not only sprouted but also produced buds, blooms, and almonds.

24 Moses brought out all the staffs from before the LORD to the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took back his own staff.

25 The LORD said to Moses, 'Return Aaron’s staff before the testimony, to be kept there as a sign for the rebellious, so that their complaints against me might end, and they will not die.'

26 Moses did just as the LORD commanded him, so he did.

27 The Israelites said to Moses, 'Behold, we perish! We are lost! We are all lost!'

28 'Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?'