Numbers 1

1:11 Now the Lord2 spoke3 to Moses in the tent of meeting4 in the wilderness5 of
Sinai6 on the first day of the second month of the second year after7 they came out of the land of Egypt.8 He said:9 1:2 “Take a census10 of the entire11 Israelite community12 by their clans and families,13 counting the name of every individual male.14 1:3 You and Aaron are to number15 all in Israel who can serve in the army,16 those who are17 twenty years old or older,18 by their divisions.19 1:4 And to help you20 there is to be a man from each21 tribe, each man22 the head23 of his family.24 1:5 Now these are the names of the men who are to help25 you:

from26 Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

1:6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;27

1:7 from Judah, Nahshon28 son of Amminadab;

1:8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

1:9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

1:10 from the sons of Joseph:

from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;

from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

1:12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

1:13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;

1:14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;29

1:15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

The Census of the Tribes

1:16 These were the ones chosen30 from the community, leaders31 of their ancestral tribes.32 They were the heads of the thousands33 of Israel.

1:17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name, 1:18 and they assembled34 the entire community together on the first day of the second month.35 Then the people recorded their ancestry36 by their clans and families; and the men who were twenty years old or older were listed37 by name individually, 1:19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

1:20 And they were: The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army, were listed by name individually. 1:21 Those numbered of them38 from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.39

1:22 From the descendants of Simeon: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males numbered of them40 twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually. 1:23 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

1:2441 From the descendants of Gad: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:25 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

1:26 From the descendants of Judah: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:27 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

1:28 From the descendants of Issachar: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:29 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

1:30 From the descendants of Zebulun: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:31 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

1:32 From the sons of Joseph:

From the descendants of Ephraim: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:33 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500. 1:34 From the descendants of Manasseh: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:35 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

1:36 From the descendants of Benjamin: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:37 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

1:38 From the descendants of Dan: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:39 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

1:40 From the descendants of Asher: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:41 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

1:42 From42 the descendants of Naphtali: according to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:43 Those numbered of them from the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

1:44 These were the men whom Moses and Aaron numbered43 along with the twelve leaders of Israel, each of whom44 was from his own family. 1:45 All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered45 according to their families. 1:46 And all those numbered were 603,550.

The Exemption of the Levites

1:47 But46 the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers,47 were not numbered48 among them. 1:48 The Lord had said to Moses,49 1:49 “Only the tribe of Levi50 you must not number51 or count52 with53 the other Israelites. 1:50 But appoint54 the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony,55 over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry56 the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they57 must attend to it and camp around it.58 1:51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move,59 the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled,60 the Levites must put it up.61 Any unauthorized person62 who approaches it must be killed.

1:52 “The Israelites will camp according to their divisions, each man in his camp, and each man by his standard. 1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that divine anger63 will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care64 of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

1:54 The Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses65—that is what they did.

The Arrangement of the Tribes

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