Aaron's Staff

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.
Moses placed the staffs
before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.

The next day
Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony
and saw that Aaron's staff,
which represented the house of Levi,
had not only sprouted
but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
Then Moses brought out all the staffs
from the Lord's presence
to all the Israelites.
They looked at them,
and each man took his own staff.

The Lord said to Moses,
"Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony,
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."
Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.

The israelites said to Moses,
"We will die!
We are lost, we are all lost!
Anyone who even comes near
the tabernacle of the Lord will die.
Are we all going to die?"
(Numbers 17:6-13)