2Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²“The Israelites^a will encamp each with his standard, with a banner according to their families;^b they will encamp around the tent of assembly. ³The ones who encamp on the eastern side, toward the sunrise, will be of the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions; and the leader of the descendants of Judah will be Nahshon son of Amminadab, ⁴and his division and the ones counted^c are seventy-four thousand six hundred. ⁵And the ones who encamp next to him will be the tribe of Issachar. And the leader of the descendants of Issachar will be Nethanel son of Zuar, ⁶and his division are fifty-four thousand four hundred. ⁷For the tribe of Zebulun: the leader of the descendants of Zebulun will be Eliab son of Helon, ⁸and his division and the ones counted^d are fifty-seven thousand four hundred. ⁹All those counted from the camp of Judah are one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred. They will set out first according to their divisions.

¹⁰“The standard of the camp of Reuben will be to the south according to their divisions. The leader of the descendants will be Elizur son of Shedeur. ¹¹And his division and the ones counted^e are forty-six thousand five hundred. ¹²Those encamped next to him will be the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the descendants of Simeon will be Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. ¹³And his division and the ones counted^f are fifty-nine thousand three hundred. ¹⁴For the tribe of Gad: the leader of the descendants of Gad will be Eliasaph son of Reuel. ¹⁵And his division and the ones counted^g are forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. ¹⁶All those counted^h from the camp of Reuben are one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty. They will set out second according to their divisions.

¹⁷“The tent of assembly the camp of the Levites will set out in the midst of the camps; they will set out just as they encamped, each according to their standards.ⁱ

¹⁸“The standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions will be to the west. The leader of the descendants of Ephraim will be Elishama son of Ammihud. ¹⁹And his division and the ones counted^j are forty thousand five hundred. ²⁰The tribe of Manasseh will be next to him. The leader of the descendants of the tribe of Manasseh will be Camaliel son of Pedahzur. ²¹And his division and the ones counted^k are thirty-two thousand two hundred. ²²For the tribe of Benjamin: the leader of the descendants of Benjamin will be Abidan son of Gideoni. ²³And his division and the ones counted^l are thirty-five thousand four hundred. ²⁴All those counted^m from the camp of Ephraim are one hundred and eight thousand one hundred. They will set out third according to their divisions.

²⁵“The standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions will be to the north. The leader of the descendants of Dan will be Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶And his division and the ones countedⁿ are sixty-two thousand seven hundred. ²⁷Those encamped next to him will be the tribe of Asher. The leader of the descendants of Asher will be Pagiel son of Ocran. ²⁸And his division and the ones counted^o are forty-one thousand five hundred. ²⁹For the tribe of Naphtali: the leader of the descendants of Naphtali will be Ahira son of Enan. ³⁰And his division and the ones counted^p are fifty-three thousand four hundred. ³¹All the ones counted^q from the camp of Dan are one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They will set out last^r according to their divisions.”

³²These were the ones counted of the Israelites^s according to their families;^t all those counted from the camps according to their divisions were six hundred and three thousand five hundred. ³³The Levites were not counted in the midst of the Israelites,^u just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³⁴And the Israelites^v did everything that Yahweh commanded Moses. They encamped according to their standards, and they^w set out each one according to their clans^x among their families.^y

Aaron’s Sons

3These are the genealogies of Aaron and Moses at the time^a when Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the descendants of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, the anointed ones whom he consecrated as priests.^b ⁴Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh^c when they presented a strange fire before Yahweh^d in the desert of Sinai, and they had no children.^e Eleazar and Ithamar served as priest during the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Bring near the tribe of Levi, and set the tribe^f before Aaron^g the priest, and they will minister to him. ⁷They shall observe his duties and the duties of the entire community before the tent of assembly, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁸And they will keep all the vessels of the tent of assembly and the responsibilities of the Israelites,^h to do the workⁱ of the tabernacle. ⁹You will give the Levites to Aaron and to his descendants; they are surely assigned to him from among the Israelites.^j ¹⁰But you will count Aaron and his descendants; they will keep their priesthood, and the stranger^k who approaches will be put to death.”

¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, ¹²“I myself receive the Levites from the midst of the Israelites^l in the place of all the firstborn of the offspring of the womb from the Israelites.^m The Levites will be mine ¹³because all the firstborn are mine; on the day of my killing all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both humankind and animal;ⁿ they will be mine. I am Yahweh.”

¹⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“Muster^o the descendants of Levi according to their families,^p according to their clans. You will count every male from one month^q and above.” ¹⁶So Moses mustered^r them according to the command of Yahweh,^s just as he commanded. ¹⁷These were the sons of Levi according to their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their clans: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath according to their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰The sons of Merari according to their tribes: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their families.^t

²¹To Gershon belonged^u the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these are the clans of the Gershonites. ²²The ones counted^v according to the number of every male from one month^w and above were seven thousand five hundred. ²³The clans of the Gershonites will camp behind the tabernacle to the west, ²⁴and the leader of the family^x of the Gershonites is Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵And the responsibility of the descendants of Gershon in the tent of assembly is the tabernacle, and the tent covering it and the curtain of the doorway of the tent of the assembly, ²⁶and the hangings of the courtyard and the curtain of the doorway of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its tent cords, all of its use.

²⁷To Kohath belonged^y the clan of Amramites,^z the clan of the Izharites,^a the clan of the Hebronites,^b and the clan of the Uzzielites;^c these were the clans of the Kohathites.^d ²⁸According to the number of every male from one month^e and above there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary. ²⁹The clan of the descendants of Kohath will encamp on the side of the tabernacle to the south. ³⁰The leader of his family^f according to the clans of the Kohathites^g is Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹Their responsibility was the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary, with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all of its use. ³²The chief of the leaders^h of the Levitesⁱ was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest who had oversight of those keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary.

³³To Merari belonged^j the clan of Mahlites^k and the clan of the Mushites:^l these are the clans of Merari. ³⁴The ones counted^m according to the number of every male from one monthⁿ and above were six thousand two hundred. ³⁵The leader of the family^o according to the clans of Merari is Zuriel son of Abihail; they will encamp of the side of the tabernacle to the north. ³⁶The responsibility of the sons of Merari was the supervision of the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, bases, and all its vessels and all its service, ³⁷and the pillars around the courtyard, and their bases, pegs, and cords.

³⁸Those encamped before the tabernacle to the east—before the tent of assembly to the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons; they will keep the responsibility of the sanctuary for the Israelites;^p and the stranger^q who approaches will be put to death. ³⁹All those counted from the Levites whom Moses and Aaron mustered^r according to the word of Yahweh,^s according to their clans, every male from one month^t and above were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰And Yahweh said to Moses, “Muster every firstborn male from the Israelites^u from one month^v and above and count^w their names. ⁴¹And you will receive the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—in the place of all the firstborn among the Israelites,^x and the animals^y of the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the animals^z among the Israelites.”^a ⁴²So Moses mustered^b all the firstborn among the Israelites^c just as Yahweh commanded him. ⁴³And all the firstborn males^d among the number of names from one month^e and above, the ones counted,^f were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

⁴⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵“Receive the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the Israelites,^g and the animals of the Levites in the place of their animals; the Levites will be mine. I am Yahweh. ⁴⁶And the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the Israelites^h who are excessive over the Levites, ⁴⁷you will…

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Footnotes

aLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
bLiterally “the house of their fathers”
cLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
dLiterally “the ones counted of him,” or “the ones mustered of him”
eLiterally “the ones counted of him,” or “the ones mustered of him”
fLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
gLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
hOr “those mustered”
iLiterally “each man on his hand according to their standards”
jLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
kLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
lLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
mOr “those mustered”
nLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
oLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
pLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
qLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
rLiterally “from behind”
sLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
tLiterally “the house of their fathers”
uLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
vLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
wHebrew “each one,” or “each man”
xHebrew “his clans”
yLiterally “the house of his fathers”
aLiterally “on a day”
bLiterally “he filled their hands to serve as a priest”
cLiterally “before the face of Yahweh”
dLiterally “before the face of Yahweh”
eLiterally “sons were not for them”
fLiterally “cause it to stand”
gLiterally “in the presence of Aaron”
hLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
iOr “service”
jLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
kOr “outsider”
lLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
mLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
nLiterally “from humankind to animal”
oOr “count,” or “summon,” or “enroll”
pLiterally “the house of their fathers”
qLiterally “the son of a month”
rOr “counted,” or “summoned,” or “enrolled”
sLiterally “mouth of Yahweh”
tLiterally “the house of their fathers”
uLiterally “To Gershon was”
vLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
wLiterally “the son of a month and above”
xLiterally “the house of his father”
yLiterally “For Kohath was”
zHebrew “Amramite”
aHebrew “Izharite”
bHebrew “Hebronite”
cHebrew “Uzzielite”
dHebrew “Kohathite”
eLiterally “the son of a month”
fLiterally “the house of his father”
gHebrew “Kohathite”
hLiterally “the leader of leaders”
iHebrew “Levite”
jLiterally “for Merari was”
kHebrew “Mahlite”
lHebrew “Mushite”
mLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
nLiterally “the son of a month”
oLiterally “the house of his father”
pLiterally “for the responsibility of the children of Israel”
qOr “outsider”
rOr “counted,” or “summoned,” or “enrolled”
sLiterally “the mouth of Yahweh”
tLiterally “the son of a month”
uLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
vLiterally “the son of a month”
wLiterally “and lift up the number of”
xLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
yHebrew “animal”
zHebrew “animal”
aLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
bOr “counted” or “summoned” or “enrolled”
cLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
dHebrew “male”
eLiterally “the son of a month”
fLiterally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them”
gLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
hLiterally “sons/children of Israel”