Numbers 2–3

The Tribes Camp Around the Tent of Meeting

2The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ²“The people of Israel must camp around the Tent of Meeting. But they must not camp too close to it. All of them must camp under their flags and under the banners of their families.”

³The companies of the camp of Judah must be on the east side. They must set up camp toward the sunrise. They must camp under their flag. The leader of the tribe of Judah is Nahshon, the son of Amminadab. ⁴There are 74,600 men in his company.

⁵The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them. The leader of the tribe of Issachar is Nethanel, the son of Zuar. ⁶There are 54,400 men in his company.

⁷The tribe of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the tribe of Zebulun is Eliab, the son of Helon. ⁸There are 57,400 men in his company.

⁹So a total of 186,400 men will be set apart for the camp of Judah. They will be arranged company by company. They will start out first.

¹⁰The companies of the camp of Reuben will be on the south side. They will be under their flag. The leader of the tribe of Reuben is Elizur, the son of Shedeur. ¹¹There are 46,500 men in his company.

¹²The tribe of Simeon will camp next to them. The leader of the tribe of Simeon is Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai. ¹³There are 59,300 men in his company.

¹⁴The tribe of Gad will be next. The leader of the tribe of Gad is Eliasaph, the son of Deuel. ¹⁵There are 45,650 men in his company.

¹⁶So a total of 151,450 men will be set apart for the camp of Reuben. They will be arranged company by company. They will start out second.

¹⁷Then the camp of the Levites will start out. The Tent of Meeting will go with them. They will march in the middle of the other camps. They will start out in the same order as they do when they set up camp. Each one will be in his own place under his flag.

¹⁸The companies of the camp of Ephraim will be on the west side. They will be under their flag. The leader of the tribe of Ephraim is Elishama, the son of Ammihud. ¹⁹There are 40,500 men in his company.

²⁰The tribe of Manasseh will be next to them. The leader of the tribe of Manasseh is Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur. ²¹There are 32,200 men in his company.

²²The tribe of Benjamin will be next. The leader of the tribe of Benjamin is Abidan, the son of Gideoni. ²³There are 35,400 men in his company.

²⁴So a total of 108,100 men will be set apart for the camp of Ephraim. They will be arranged company by company. They will start out third.

²⁵The companies of the camp of Dan will be on the north side. They will be under their flag. The leader of the tribe of Dan is Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶There are 62,700 men in his company.

²⁷The tribe of Asher will camp next to them. The leader of the tribe of Asher is Pagiel, the son of Ocran. ²⁸There are 41,500 men in his company.

²⁹The tribe of Naphtali will be next. The leader of the tribe of Naphtali is Ahira, the son of Enan. ³⁰There are 53,400 men in his company.

³¹So a total of 157,600 men will be set apart for the camp of Dan. They will start out last. They will march under their flags.

³²Those are the men of Israel. They were counted in keeping with their families. The total number of all of the men who were in the camps is 603,550, company by company. ³³But the Levites weren’t counted along with the other men of Israel. That’s what the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁴So the people of Israel did everything the Lord had commanded Moses. That’s the way they set up camp under their flags. And that’s the way they started out. Each man marched out with his own tribe and family.

The Levites

3Here is the story of the family of Aaron and Moses. It belongs to the time when the Lord talked with Moses on Mount Sinai.

²Aaron’s oldest son was Nadab. His other sons were Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ³Those were the names of Aaron’s sons. They were the anointed priests. They were prepared to serve the Lord as priests. ⁴But Nadab and Abihu made an offering to the Lord by using fire that wasn’t allowed. So they fell dead in front of him. That happened in the Desert of Sinai. They didn’t have any sons. Only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests while their father Aaron was living.

⁵The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁶“Bring the men of the tribe of Levi to the priest Aaron. They will help him. ⁷They must work at the Tent of Meeting for Aaron and for the whole community. They must do what needs to be done at the holy tent. ⁸They must take care of everything that is connected with the Tent of Meeting. When they do, they are acting for all of the people of Israel. ⁹Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are the men of Israel who must be given completely to him.

¹⁰“Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. Anyone else who approaches the sacred tent must be put to death.”

¹¹The Lord also said to Moses, ¹²“I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel. I have taken them in place of the oldest son who is born to each woman in Israel. The Levites belong to me. ¹³That is because every male that is born first to a mother is mine. In Egypt I struck down all of the males that were born first. I did it when I set apart for myself every male that is born first to a mother in Israel. That is true for men and animals alike. They belong to me. I am the Lord.”

¹⁴The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. He said, ¹⁵“Count the Levites by their family groups. Count every male who is a month old or more.” ¹⁶So Moses counted them. He did just as the word of the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁷The sons of Levi were

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

¹⁸The major families from Gershon were

Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹The major families from Kohath were

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

²⁰The major families from Merari were

Mahli and Mushi.

Those were the major families of the Levites.

²¹The families of Libni and Shimei belonged to the family of Gershon. ²²All of the males who were a month old or more were counted. There were 7,500 of them. ²³The families of Gershon had to camp on the west side. They had to camp behind the holy tent. ²⁴The leader of the families of Gershon was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.

²⁵Here are the duties of the families of Gershon at the Tent of Meeting. They were held accountable for taking care of the holy tent and its coverings. They took care of the curtain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²⁶They took care of the curtains of the courtyard. They took care of the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. The courtyard was all around the holy tent and altar. They also took care of the ropes. In fact, they had to take care of everything that was connected with the use of all of those things.

²⁷The families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel belonged to the family of Kohath. ²⁸All of the males who were a month old or more were counted. There were 8,600 of them. The families of Kohath were held accountable for taking care of the sacred tent. ²⁹They had to camp on the south side of the holy tent. ³⁰The leader of the families of Kohath was Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.

³¹They were held accountable for taking care of the ark of the covenant. They took care of the table for the holy bread. They took care of the lampstand and the two altars. They took care of the articles that were used for serving in the sacred tent. They also took care of the inner curtain. In fact, they had to take care of everything that was connected with the use of all of those things.

³²The chief leader of the Levites was Eleazar. He was the son of the priest Aaron. Eleazar was appointed over those who were held accountable for taking care of the sacred tent.

³³The families of Mahli and Mushi belonged to the family of Merari. ³⁴All of the males who were a month old or more were counted. There were 6,200 of them. ³⁵The leader of the families of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abihail. They had to camp on the north side of the holy tent.

³⁶They were appointed to take care of the frames of the tent. They took care of its crossbars, posts and bases. They took care of all of its supplies. In fact, they had to take care of everything that was connected with the use of all of those things. ³⁷They also took care of the posts of the courtyard that was around the holy tent. And they took care of the bases, tent stakes and ropes.

³⁸Moses, Aaron and Aaron’s sons had to camp to the east of the holy tent. They had to camp toward the sunrise in front of the Tent of Meeting. They were held accountable for taking care of the sacred tent. They had to do it for the people of Israel. Anyone else who approached the tent would be put to death.

³⁹The total number of the Levites was 22,000. They were counted family by family. Every male who was a month old or more was counted. Moses and Aaron counted them, just as the Lord had commanded.

⁴⁰The Lord said to Moses, “Count the males among the people of Israel who were the oldest sons born in their families. Count all those who are a month old or more. Make a list of their names. ⁴¹Take the Levites for me in their place. And take the livestock of the Levites in place of all of the male animals in Israel that were born first to their mothers. I am the Lord.”

⁴²So Moses counted all of the oldest sons in Israel. He did just as the Lord had commanded him. ⁴³There were 22,273 of those sons who were a month old or more. They were listed by name.

⁴⁴The Lord also said to Moses, ⁴⁵“Take the Levites in place of all the males who were born first in Israel. Also take the livestock of the Levites in place of the livestock of Israel. The Levites belong to me. I am the Lord.

⁴⁶“But there are 273 more males who were born first in Israel than there are male Levites. ⁴⁷Collect two ounces of silver for each of them. Weigh it out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. ⁴⁸Give the silver to Aaron and his sons. It will buy the freedom of the additional sons in Israel.”

⁴⁹So Moses collected the silver from the additional sons in Israel to buy their freedom. The Levites took the place of all…