And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”

Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.

Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘Old men and women will once more live in the plazas of Jerusalem, each one leaning on a cane because of advanced age.

He ¹  said to them, “Take nothing for your ²  journey – no staff, ³  no bag, ⁴  no bread, no money, and do not take an extra tunic. ⁵ 

I am not worthy of all the faithful love ¹  you have shown ²  your servant. With only my walking stick ³  I crossed the Jordan, ⁴  but now I have become two camps.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and grab it by the tail” – so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand ¹  –

“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do ¹  a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down ²  before Pharaoh,’ it will become ³  a snake.”

Moses and Aaron did so, ¹  just as the Lord had commanded. Moses raised ²  the staff ³  and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes ⁴  of Pharaoh and his servants, ⁵  and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. ⁶ 

The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff ¹  over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’”

So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord ¹  brought ²  an east wind on the land all that day and all night. ³  The morning came, ⁴  and the east wind had brought up ⁵  the locusts!

On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and ¹  the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! ² 

So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. ¹  She became pregnant by him.

While they were bringing her out, she sent word ¹  to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” ²  Then she said, “Identify ³  the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.”

He took his staff in his hand, picked out five smooth stones from the stream, placed them in the pouch ¹  of his shepherd’s bag, took his sling in hand, and approached the Philistine.

For their oppressive yoke and the club that strikes their shoulders, the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ¹  you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ² 

Every blow from his punishing cudgel, ¹  with which the Lord will beat them, ²  will be accompanied by music from the ³  tambourine and harp, and he will attack them with his weapons. ⁴ 

Then ¹  a measuring rod ²  like a staff was given to me, and I was told, ³  “Get up and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and the ones who worship there.

He called down a famine upon the earth; he cut off all the food supply. ¹ 

Again and again ¹  they struck him on the head with a staff ²  and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him.