Numbers 2–3

Chapter 2

¹And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²The children of Israel shall encamp every one by his standard, with the ensign of their father’s house; round about the tent of meeting, afar off, opposite to it shall they encamp.

³And for those encamping eastward toward the sun-rising there shall be the standard of the camp of Judah according to their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁴and his host, even those that were numbered of them, were seventy-four thousand six hundred. ⁵And those that encamp next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar; and the prince of the sons of Issachar shall be Nethaneel the son of Zuar; ⁶and his host, even those that were numbered thereof, fifty-four thousand four hundred. ⁷With them shall be the tribe of Zebulun; and the prince of the sons of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon; ⁸and his host, even those that were numbered thereof, fifty-seven thousand four hundred. ⁹All that were numbered of the camp of Judah were a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred, according to their hosts. They shall set forth first. ¹⁰The standard of the camp of Reuben shall be southward according to their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur; ¹¹and his host, even those that were numbered thereof, forty-six thousand five hundred. ¹²And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Simeon; and the prince of the sons of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ¹³and his host, even those that were numbered of them, fifty-nine thousand three hundred. ¹⁴And with them shall be the tribe of Gad; and the prince of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel; ¹⁵and his host, even those that were numbered of them, forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. ¹⁶All that were numbered of the camp of Reuben were a hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty, according to their hosts. And they shall set forth second. ¹⁷And the tent of meeting shall set forth, the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so shall they set forth, every man in his place, according to their standards. ¹⁸The standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their hosts shall be westward; and the prince of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud; ¹⁹and his host, even those that were numbered of them, forty thousand five hundred. ²⁰And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the prince of the sons of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ²¹and his host, even those that were numbered of them, thirty-two thousand two hundred. ²²And with them shall be the tribe of Benjamin; and the prince of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni; ²³and his host, even those that were numbered of them, thirty-five thousand four hundred. ²⁴All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were a hundred and eight thousand one hundred, according to their hosts. And they shall set forth third. ²⁵The standard of the camp of Dan shall be northward according to their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ²⁶and his host, even those that were numbered of them, sixty-two thousand seven hundred. ²⁷And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher; and the prince of the sons of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran; ²⁸and his host, even those that were numbered of them, forty-one thousand five hundred. ²⁹And with them shall be the tribe of Naphtali; and the prince of the sons of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan; ³⁰and his host, even those that were numbered of them, fifty-three thousand four hundred. ³¹All that were numbered of the camp of Dan were a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set forth last according to their standards. ³²These are those that were numbered of the children of Israel, according to their fathers’ houses: all those that were numbered of the camps, according to their hosts, were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. ³³But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. ³⁴And the children of Israel did according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses: so they encamped according to their standards, and so they journeyed, every one according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses.

Chapter 3

¹And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Jehovah spoke with Moses on mount Sinai. ²And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, who were consecrated to exercise the priesthood. ⁴And Nadab and Abihu died before Jehovah when they offered strange fire before Jehovah in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons; and Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood in the presence of Aaron their father. ⁵And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him; ⁷and they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole assembly, before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸And they shall keep all the utensils of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹And thou shalt give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given to him out of the children of Israel. ¹⁰And Aaron and his sons shalt thou appoint that they may attend to their priest’s office; and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death. ¹¹And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn that breaketh open the womb among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine; ¹³for every firstborn is mine. On the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and beast; mine shall they be: I am Jehovah.

¹⁴And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵Number the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ houses, after their families; every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. ¹⁶And Moses numbered them, according to the commandment of Jehovah, —as he had been commanded. ¹⁷And these are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their families: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath according to their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merari according to their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses. ²¹Of Gershon, the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. ²²Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, those that were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred. ²³The families of the Gershonites encamped behind the tabernacle westward. ²⁴And the prince of the father’s house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. ²⁵And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was: the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the curtain of the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²⁶And the hangings of the court, and the curtain of the entrance to the court, which surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords thereof for all its service. ²⁷And of Kohath, the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, who kept the charge of the sanctuary. ²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath encamped on the side of the tabernacle southward. ³⁰And the prince of the father’s house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹And their charge was the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all that belongs to its service. ³²And the prince of princes of the Levites was Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: he had the oversight of them that kept the charge of the sanctuary. ³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. ³⁴And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred. ³⁵And the prince of the father’s house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They encamped on the side of the tabernacle northward. ³⁶And the charge of the sons of Merari consisted in the oversight of the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and all its furniture, and all that belongs to its service, ³⁷and the pillars of the court round about, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords. ³⁸And those who encamped before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising, were Moses, and Aaron and his sons, who kept the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death. ³⁹All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Jehovah, according to their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰And Jehovah said to Moses, Number all the first-born males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. ⁴¹And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am Jehovah) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites, instead of all…