Numbers 2–3

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 Pagiel the son of Ocran.” ²⁸And his army was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred.

²⁹“Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.” ³⁰And his army was numbered at fifty-three thousand four hundred. ³¹“All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred—^kthey shall ¹break camp last, with their ²standards.”

³²These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. ^lAll who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. ³³But ^mthe Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁴Thus the children of Israel ⁿdid according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; ^oso they camped by their ³standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.

The Sons of Aaron

3Now these are the ^arecords ¹of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the ^bfirstborn, and ^cAbihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ^dthe anointed priests, ²whom he consecrated to minister as priests. ^4eNadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^6f“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. ⁷And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do ^gthe work of the tabernacle. ⁸Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁹And ^hyou shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to ³him from among the children of Israel. ¹⁰So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, ⁱand they shall attend to their priesthood; ^jbut the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹²“Now behold, ^kI Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be ^lMine, ¹³because ^mall the firstborn are Mine. ⁿOn the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”

Census of the Levites Commanded

¹⁴Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: ¹⁵“Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number ^oevery male from a month old and above.”

¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the ⁴word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ^17pThese were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of ^qGershon by their families: ^rLibni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of ^sKohath by their families: ^tAmram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ^20uAnd the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.

²¹From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites. ²²Those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above—of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred. ^23vThe families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward. ²⁴And the leader of the father’s house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. ^25wThe duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included ^xthe tabernacle, ^ythe tent with ^zits covering, ^athe screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, ^26bthe screen for the door of the court, ^cthe hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the altar, and ^dtheir cords, according to all the work relating to them.

^27eFrom Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand ⁵six hundred ⁶keeping charge of the sanctuary. ^29fThe families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of ^gUzziel. ^31hTheir duty included ⁱthe ark, ^jthe table, ^kthe lampstand, ^lthe altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, ^mthe screen, and all the work relating to them.

³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.

³³From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. ³⁴And those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred. ³⁵The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. ⁿThese were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶And ^othe appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them, ³⁷and the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords.

^38pMoreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, ^qkeeping charge of the sanctuary, ^rto meet the needs of the children of Israel; but ^sthe outsider who came near was to be put to death. ^39tAll who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.

Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn

⁴⁰Then the Lord said to Moses: ^u“Number ⁷all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. ^41vAnd you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.” ⁴²So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month…