Numbers 10

Two Silver Trumpets

10And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²“Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for ^acalling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. ³When ^bthey blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁴But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the ^cheads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you. ⁵When you sound the ^dadvance, ^ethe camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey. ⁶When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie ^fon the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys. ⁷And when the assembly is to be gathered together, ^gyou shall blow, but not ^hsound the advance. ⁸ⁱThe sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ¹ordinance forever throughout your generations.

^9j“When you go to war in your land against the enemy who ^koppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be ^lremembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰Also ^min the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be ⁿa memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Departure from Sinai

¹¹Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud ^owas taken up from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. ¹²And the children of Israel set out from the ^pWilderness of Sinai on ^qtheir journeys; then the cloud settled down in the ^rWilderness of Paran. ¹³So they started out for the first time ^saccording to the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

¹⁴The ²standard of the camp of the children of Judah ^tset out first according to their armies; over their army was ^uNahshon the son of Amminadab. ¹⁵Over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. ¹⁶And over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷Then ^vthe tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, ^wcarrying the tabernacle.

¹⁸And ^xthe standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies; over their army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. ¹⁹Over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ²⁰And over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

²¹Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the ^yholy things. (The tabernacle would be ³prepared for their arrival.)

²²And ^zthe standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies; over their army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. ²³Over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ²⁴And over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵Then ^athe standard of the camp of the children of Dan (the rear guard of all the camps) set out according to their armies; over their army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. ²⁷And over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.

^28bThus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their armies, when they began their journey.

²⁹Now Moses said to ^cHobab the son of ^dReuel ⁴the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ^e‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and ^fwe will treat you well; for ^gthe Lord has promised good things to Israel.”

³⁰And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives.”

³¹So Moses said, “Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can ⁵be our ^heyes. ³²And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that ⁱwhatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.”

³³So they departed from ^jthe mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^kwent before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. ³⁴And ^lthe cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp.

³⁵So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:

^m“Rise up, O Lord!

Let Your enemies be scattered,

And let those who hate You flee before You.”

³⁶And when it rested, he said:

“Return, O Lord,

To the many thousands of Israel.”