Numbers 1–6

A Census of Israel’s Warriors

1The Lord spoke to Moses ^ain the wilderness of Sinai, ^bin the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ^2c“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, ^dby fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. ^3eFrom twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, ^fcompany by company. ⁴And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. ⁵And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, ^gElizur the son of Shedeur; ⁶from Simeon, ^hShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷from Judah, ⁱNahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸from Issachar, ^jNethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹from Zebulun, ^kEliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, ^lElishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, ^mGamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹from Benjamin, ⁿAbidan the son of Gideoni; ¹²from Dan, ^oAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³from Asher, ^pPagiel the son of Ochran; ¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph the son of ^qDeuel; ¹⁵from Naphtali, ^rAhira the son of Enan.” ¹⁶These were the ones ^schosen from the congregation, ^tthe chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

¹⁷Moses and Aaron took these men ^uwho had been named, ¹⁸and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, ¹⁹as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰The people of ^vReuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²¹those listed of the tribe of Reuben were ^w46,500.

²²Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²³those listed of the tribe of Simeon were ^x59,300.

²⁴Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²⁵those listed of the tribe of Gad were ^y45,650.

²⁶Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ²⁷those listed of the tribe of Judah were ^z74,600.

²⁸Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ²⁹those listed of the tribe of Issachar were ^a54,400.

³⁰Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³¹those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were ^b57,400.

³²Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³³those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were ^c40,500.

³⁴Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁵those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were ^d32,200.

³⁶Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁷those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were ^e35,400.

³⁸Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁹those listed of the tribe of Dan were ^f62,700.

⁴⁰Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ⁴¹those listed of the tribe of Asher were ^g41,500.

⁴²Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ⁴³those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were ^h53,400.

⁴⁴ⁱThese are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ house. ⁴⁵So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— ⁴⁶all those listed were ^j603,550.

Levites Exempted

⁴⁷But ^kthe Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. ^50lBut appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it ^mand shall camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹ⁿWhen the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. ^oAnd if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. ⁵²The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and ^peach man by his own standard. ⁵³But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no ^qwrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. ^rAnd the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

Arrangement of the Camp

2The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ^2s“The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. ³Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being ^tNahshon the son of Amminadab, ⁴his company as listed being 74,600. ⁵Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, ⁶his company as listed being 54,400. ⁷Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, ⁸his company as listed being 57,400. ⁹All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. ^uThey shall set out first on the march.

¹⁰“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, ¹¹his company as listed being 46,500. ¹²And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, ¹³his company as listed being 59,300. ¹⁴Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of ^vReuel, ¹⁵his company as listed being 45,650. ¹⁶All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. ^wThey shall set out second.

^17x“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

¹⁸“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, ¹⁹his company as listed being 40,500. ²⁰And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, ²¹his company as listed being 32,200. ²²Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, ²³his company as listed being 35,400. ²⁴All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. ^yThey shall set out third on the march.

²⁵“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶his company as listed being 62,700. ²⁷And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, ²⁸his company as listed being 41,500. ²⁹Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, ³⁰his company as listed being 53,400. ³¹All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. ^zThey shall set out last, standard by standard.”

³²These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers’ houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were ^a603,550. ³³But ^bthe Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁴Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, ^cso they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers’ house.

The Sons of Aaron

3These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: ^dNadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ^ethe anointed priests, ^fwhom he ordained to serve as priests. ^4gBut Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and…