^32:26So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come⁵⁶ to me.”⁵⁷ All the Levites gathered around him, ^32:27and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Each man fasten⁵⁸ his sword on his side, and go back and forth⁵⁹ from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’ ”⁶⁰

^32:28The Levites did what Moses ordered,⁶¹ and that day about three thousand men of the people died.⁶²

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Footnotes

56 “come” is not in the text, but has been supplied.
57 S. R. Driver suggests that the command was tersely put: “Who is for Yahweh? To me!” (Exodus, ).
58 Heb “put.”
59 The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys: “pass over and return,” meaning, “go back and forth” throughout the camp.
60 The phrases have “and kill a man his brother, and a man his companion, and a man his neighbor.” The instructions were probably intended to mean that they should kill leaders they knew to be guilty because they had been seen or because they failed the water test—whoever they were.
61 Heb “did according to the word of Moses.”
62 Heb “fell.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’ ” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him. He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’ ” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people.

NLTNew Living Translation

So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

Moses told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, to me.” And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.’ ” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell.

KJV 1900King James Version

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

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