Numbers 2–3

Chapter 2

¹The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“The people of Israel shall encamp each by his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers’ houses; they shall encamp facing the tent of meeting on every side. ³Those to encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the leader of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Amminadab, ⁴his host as numbered being seventy-four thousand six hundred. ⁵Those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the leader of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, ⁶his host as numbered being fifty-four thousand four hundred. ⁷Then the tribe of Zebulun, the leader of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, ⁸his host as numbered being fifty-seven thousand four hundred. ⁹The whole number of the camp of Judah, by their companies, is a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred. They shall set out first on the march.

¹⁰“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the leader of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, ¹¹his host as numbered being forty-six thousand five hundred. ¹²And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the leader of the people of Simeon being Shelumi-el the son of Zurishaddai, ¹³his host as numbered being fifty-nine thousand three hundred. ¹⁴Then the tribe of Gad, the leader of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of Reuel, ¹⁵his host as numbered being forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. ¹⁶The whole number of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, is a hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty. They shall set out second.

¹⁷“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

¹⁸“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the leader of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, ¹⁹his host as numbered being forty thousand five hundred. ²⁰And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the leader of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, ²¹his host as numbered being thirty-two thousand two hundred. ²²Then the tribe of Benjamin, the leader of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, ²³his host as numbered being thirty-five thousand four hundred. ²⁴The whole number of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, is a hundred and eight thousand one hundred. They shall set out third on the march.

²⁵“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the leader of the people of Dan being Ahi-ezer the son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶his host as numbered being sixty-two thousand seven hundred. ²⁷And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the leader of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, ²⁸his host as numbered being forty-one thousand five hundred. ²⁹Then the tribe of Naphtali, the leader of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, ³⁰his host as numbered being fifty-three thousand four hundred. ³¹The whole number of the camp of Dan is a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

³²These are the people of Israel as numbered by their fathers’ houses; all in the camps who were numbered by their companies were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. ³³But the Levites were not numbered among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁴Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, every one in his family, according to his fathers’ house.

Chapter 3

¹These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; ³these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to minister in the priest’s office. ⁴But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unholy fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

⁵And the Lord said to Moses, ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle; ⁸they shall have charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and attend to the duties for the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹And the Lord said to Moses, ¹²“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³for all the first-born are mine; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the first-born in Israel, both of man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

¹⁴And the Lord said to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, ¹⁵“Number the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number.” ¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shime-i. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

²¹Of Gershon were the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shime-ites; these were the families of the Gershonites. ²²Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was seven thousand five hundred. ²³The families of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as head of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. ²⁵And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tent of meeting, ²⁶the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords; all the service pertaining to these.

²⁷Of Kohath were the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, attending to the duties of the sanctuary. ²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath were to encamp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰with Eli-zaphan the son of Uzziel as head of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites. ³¹And their charge was to be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service pertaining to these. ³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari were the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. ³⁴Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was six thousand two hundred. ³⁵And the head of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail; they were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶And the appointed charge of the sons of Merari was to be the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service pertaining to these; ³⁷also the pillars of the court round about, with their bases and pegs and cords.

³⁸And those to encamp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, having charge of the rites within the sanctuary, whatever had to be done for the people of Israel; and any one else who came near was to be put to death. ³⁹All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰And the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the first-born males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking their number by names. ⁴¹And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the people of Israel.” ⁴²So Moses numbered all the first-born among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³And all the first-born males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as numbered were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

⁴⁴And the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵“Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. ⁴⁶And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, ⁴⁷you shall take five shekels apiece; reckoning by the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs, you shall take them, ⁴⁸and give the money by which the…