Numbers 1–6

The First Census of Israel

1Now the Lord spoke to Moses ^ain the Wilderness of Sinai, ^bin the tabernacle of meeting, on the ^cfirst day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: ^2d“Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male ^eindividually, ³from ^ftwenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. ⁴And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house.

⁵“These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; ⁶from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; ¹²from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran; ¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph the son of ^gDeuel; ¹¹⁵from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” ^16hThese were ⁱchosen ²from the congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, ^jheads of the divisions in Israel.

¹⁷Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been ³mentioned ^kby name, ¹⁸and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ^lancestry by families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually. ¹⁹As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰Now the ^mchildren of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²¹those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.

²²From the ⁿchildren of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, of those who were numbered, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²³those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

²⁴From the ^ochildren of Gad, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²⁵those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

²⁶From the ^pchildren of Judah, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²⁷those who were numbered of the tribe of Judah were ^qseventy-four thousand six hundred.

²⁸From the ^rchildren of Issachar, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²⁹those who were numbered of the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

³⁰From the ^schildren of Zebulun, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³¹those who were numbered of the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

³²From the sons of Joseph, the ^tchildren of Ephraim, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³³those who were numbered of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred.

³⁴From the ^uchildren of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³⁵those who were numbered of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

³⁶From the ^vchildren of Benjamin, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³⁷those who were numbered of the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

³⁸From the ^wchildren of Dan, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³⁹those who were numbered of the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

⁴⁰From the ^xchildren of Asher, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ⁴¹those who were numbered of the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.

⁴²From the children of Naphtali, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ⁴³those who were numbered of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

^44yThese are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each one representing his father’s house. ⁴⁵So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel—⁴⁶all who were numbered were ^zsix hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

⁴⁷But ^athe Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe; ⁴⁸for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: ^49b“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; ^50cbut you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it ^dand camp around the tabernacle. ^51eAnd when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it ^fup. ^gThe outsider who comes near shall be put to death. ⁵²The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, ^heveryone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies; ⁵³ⁱbut the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no ^jwrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall ^kkeep ⁴charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

⁵⁴Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.

The Tribes and Leaders by Armies

2And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ^2a“Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his own ¹standard, beside the emblems of his father’s house; they shall camp ^bsome distance from the tabernacle of meeting. ³On the ^ceast side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and ^dNahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah.” ⁴And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred.

⁵“Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar.” ⁶And his army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred.

⁷“Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the leader of the children of Zebulun.” ⁸And his army was numbered at fifty-seven thousand four hundred. ⁹“All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred—^ethese shall ²break camp first.

¹⁰“On the ^fsouth side shall be the standard of the forces with Reuben according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.” ¹¹And his army was numbered at forty-six thousand five hundred.

¹²“Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.” ¹³And his army was numbered at fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

¹⁴“Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of ³Reuel.” ¹⁵And his army was numbered at forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. ¹⁶“All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty—^gthey shall ⁴be the second to break camp.

^17h“And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the ⁵camp of the Levites ⁱin the middle of the ⁶camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their ⁷standards.

¹⁸“On the west side shall be the standard of the forces with Ephraim according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” ¹⁹And his army was numbered at forty thousand five hundred.

²⁰“Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.” ²¹And his army was numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred.

²²“Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.” ²³And his army was numbered at thirty-five thousand four hundred. ²⁴“All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred—^jthey shall ⁸be the third to break camp.

²⁵“The ⁹standard of the forces with Dan shall be on the north side according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.” ²⁶And his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

²⁷“Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the children of Asher shall be…