Numbers 17
1 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the
priest, Take up the brazen censers out of the midst of the men that have been
burnt, and scatter the strange fire yonder, for they have sanctified the
censers 3 of these sinners against
their own souls, and do thou make them beaten plates a covering to the altar,
because they were brought before the Lord and hallowed; and they became a sign
to the children of Israel. 4 And
Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest took the brazen censers, which the men who
had been burnt brought near, and they put them as a covering on the altar:
5 a memorial to the children of Israel
that no stranger might draw nigh, who is not of the seed of Aaron, to offer
incense before the Lord; so he shall not be as Core and as they that conspired
with him, as the Lord spoke to him by the hand of Moses.
6 And the children of Israel murmured
the next day against Moses and Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the
Lord. 7 And it came to pass when the
congregation combined against Moses and Aaron, that they ran impetuously to
the tabernacle of witness; and the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord
appeared. 8 And Moses and Aaron went
in, in front of the tabernacle of witness.
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses and
Aaron, saying, 10 Depart out of the
midst of this congregation, and I will consume them at once: and they fell
upon their faces. 11 And Moses said
to Aaron, Take a censer, and put on it fire from the altar, and put incense on
it, and carry it away quickly into the camp, and make atonement for them; for
wrath is gone forth from the presence of the Lord, it has begun to destroy the
people. 12 And Aaron took as Moses
spoke to him, and ran among the congregation, for already the plague had begun
among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
13 And he stood between the dead and
the living, and the plague ceased.
14 And they that died in the plague
were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those that died on account
of Core. 15 And Aaron returned to
Moses to the door of the tabernacle of witness, and the plague ceased.
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, 17 Speak to the children of
Israel, and take
aGr. a rod.rods of them, according to the houses of their families, a rod from all their
princes, according to the houses of their families, twelve rods, and write the
name of each on his rod. 18 And write
the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi; for it is one rod
for each: they shall give
them according to the tribe of the house of their
families. 19 And thou shalt put them
in the tabernacle of witness, before the testimony, where I will be made known
to thee. 20 And it shall be, the man
whom I shall choose, his rod shall blossom; and I will remove from me the
murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.
21 And Moses spoke to the children of
Israel, and all their chiefs gave him a rod each, for
one chief a rod, according to the house of their families, twelve rods; and
the rod of Aaron was in the midst of the rods.
22 And Moses laid up the rods before
the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.
23 And it came to pass on the morrow,
that Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod
of Aaron for the house of Levi blossomed, and put forth a bud, and bloomed
blossoms and produced almonds. 24 And
Moses brought forth all the rods from before the Lord to all the sons of
Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod.
25 And the Lord said to Moses, Lay up
the rod of Aaron before the testimonies to be kept as a sign for the children
of the disobedient; and let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not
die. 26 And Moses and Aaron did as
the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.
27 And the children of Israel spoke
to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.
28 Every one that touches the
tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly?