Numbers 17

vayedabber Adonai el-mosheh lemor

GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

emor el-elazar ben-aharon hakkohen veyarem et-hammakhtot mibben hasserefah ve'et-ha'esh zereh-hale'ah ki qadeshu

Order Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the fire pans—for they have become sacred—from among the charred remains; and scatter the coals abroad.

et makhtot hakhatta'im ha'elleh benafshotam ve'asu otam riqqu'e fakhim tsippuy lammizbeakh ki-hiqrivum lifne-Adonai vayyiqdashu veyihyu le'ot livne yisra'el

[Remove] the fire pans of those who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar—for once they have been used for offering to GOD, they have become sacred—and let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel.

vayyiqqakh elazar hakkohen et makhtot hannekhoshet asher hiqrivu hasserufim vayeraqqe'um tsippuy lammizbeakh

Eleazar the priest took the copper fire pans that had been used for offering by those who died in the fire; and they were hammered into plating for the altar,

zikkaron livne yisra'el lema'an asher lo-yiqrav ish zar asher lo mizzera aharon hu lehaqtir qetoret lifne Adonai velo-yihyeh kheqorakh vekha'adato ka'asher dibber Adonai beyad-mosheh lo

as GOD had ordered him through Moses. It was to be a reminder to the Israelites, so that no outsider—one not of Aaron’s offspring—should presume to offer incense before GOD and suffer the fate of Korah and his band.

vayyillonu kol-adat bene-yisra'el mimmokhorat al-mosheh ve'al-aharon lemor attem hamittem et-am Adonai

Next day the whole Israelite community railed against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You two have brought death upon GOD’s people!”

vayehi behiqqahel ha'edah al-mosheh ve'al-aharon vayyifnu el-ohel mo'ed vehinneh khissahu he'anan vayyera kevod Adonai

But as the community gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting; the cloud had covered it and the Presence of GOD appeared.

vayyavo mosheh ve'aharon el-pene ohel mo'ed

When Moses and Aaron reached the Tent of Meeting,

vayedabber Adonai el-mosheh lemor

GOD spoke to Moses, saying,

herommu mittokh ha'edah hazzot va'akhalleh otam keraga vayyippelu al-penehem

“Remove yourselves from this community, that I may annihilate them in an instant.” They fell on their faces.

vayyomer mosheh el-aharon qakh et-hammakhtah veten-aleha esh me'al hammizbeakh vesim qetoret veholekh meherah el-ha'edah vekhapper alehem ki-yatsa haqqetsef millifne Adonai hekhel hannagef

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the altar. Add incense and take it quickly to the community and make expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from GOD: the plague has begun!”

vayyiqqakh aharon ka'asher dibber mosheh vayyarots el-tokh haqqahal vehinneh hekhel hannegef ba'am vayyitten et-haqqetoret vayekhapper al-ha'am

Aaron took it, as Moses had ordered, and ran to the midst of the congregation, where the plague had begun among the people. He put on the incense and made expiation for the people;

vayya'amod ben-hammetim uven hakhayyim vatte'atsar hammaggefah

he stood between the dead and the living until the plague was checked.

vayyihyu hammetim bammaggefah arba'ah asar elef usheva me'ot millevad hammetim al-devar-qorakh

Those who died of the plague came to fourteen thousand and seven hundred, aside from those who died on account of Korah.

vayyashov aharon el-mosheh el-petakh ohel mo'ed vehammaggefah ne'etsarah

Aaron then returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, since the plague was checked.

vayedabber Adonai el-mosheh lemor

GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

dabber el-bene yisra'el veqakh me'ittam matteh matteh levet av me'et kol-nesi'ehem levet avotam shenem asar mattot ish et-shemo tikhtov al-mattehu

Speak to the Israelite people and take from them—from the chieftains of their ancestral houses—one staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house: twelve staffs in all. Inscribe each one’s name on his staff,

ve'et shem aharon tikhtov al-matteh levi ki matteh ekhad lerosh bet avotam

there being one staff for each head of an ancestral house; also inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi.

vehinnakhtam be'ohel mo'ed lifne ha'edut asher ivva'ed lakhem shammah

Deposit them in the Tent of Meeting before the Pact, where I meet with you.

vehayah ha'ish asher evkhar-bo mattehu yifrakh vahashikkoti me'alay et-telunnot bene yisra'el asher hem mallinim alekhem

The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout, and I will rid Myself of the incessant mutterings of the Israelites against you.

vayedabber mosheh el-bene yisra'el vayyittenu elayw kol-nesi'ehem matteh lenasi ekhad matteh lenasi ekhad levet avotam shenem asar mattot umatteh aharon betokh mattotam

Moses spoke thus to the Israelites. Their chieftains gave him a staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house, twelve staffs in all; among these staffs was that of Aaron.

vayyannakh mosheh et-hammattot lifne Adonai be'ohel ha'edut

Moses deposited the staffs before GOD, in the Tent of the Pact.

vayehi mimmokhorat vayyavo mosheh el-ohel ha'edut vehinneh parakh matteh-aharon levet levi vayyotse ferakh vayyatsets tsits vayyigmol sheqedim

The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Pact, and there the staff of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted: it had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds.

vayyotse mosheh et-kol-hammattot millifne Adonai el-kol-bene yisra'el vayyiru vayyiqkhu ish mattehu

Moses then brought out all the staffs from before GOD to all the Israelites; each identified and recovered his staff.

vayyomer Adonai el-mosheh hashev et-matteh aharon lifne ha'edut lemishmeret le'ot livne-meri utekhal telunnotam me'alay velo yamutu

GOD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back before the Pact, to be kept as a lesson to rebels, so that their mutterings against Me may cease, lest they die.”

vayya'as mosheh ka'asher tsivvah Adonai oto ken asah

This Moses did; just as GOD had commanded him, so he did.

vayyomeru bene yisra'el el-mosheh lemor hen gavanu avadnu kullanu avadenu

But the Israelites said to Moses, “Lo, we perish! We are lost, all of us lost!

kol haqqarev haqqarev el-mishkan Adonai yamut ha'im tamnu ligvoa

Everyone who so much as ventures near GOD’s Tabernacle must die. Alas, we are doomed to perish!”