A Census of Israel's Warriors

1 The Lord spoke to Moses ^(A)in the wilderness of Sinai, ^(B)in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ^2 (C)“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, ^(D)by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. ^3 (E)From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, ^(F)company by company. ⁴ And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. ⁵ And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, ^(G)Elizur the son of Shedeur; ⁶ from Simeon, ^(H)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷ from Judah, ^(I)Nahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸ from Issachar, ^(J)Nethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹ from Zebulun, ^(K)Eliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰ from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, ^(L)Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, ^(M)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹ from Benjamin, ^(N)Abidan the son of Gideoni; ¹² from Dan, ^(O)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³ from Asher, ^(P)Pagiel the son of Ochran; ¹⁴ from Gad, Eliasaph the son of ^(Q)Deuel; ¹⁵ from Naphtali, ^(R)Ahira the son of Enan.” ¹⁶ These were the ones ^(S)chosen from the congregation, ^(T)the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men ^(U)who had been named, ¹⁸ and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, ¹⁹ as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰ The people of ^(V)Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²¹ those listed of the tribe of Reuben were ^(W)46,500.

²² Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²³ those listed of the tribe of Simeon were ^(X)59,300.

²⁴ Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²⁵ those listed of the tribe of Gad were ^(Y)45,650.

²⁶ Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ²⁷ those listed of the tribe of Judah were ^(Z)74,600.

²⁸ Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ²⁹ those listed of the tribe of Issachar were ^(AA)54,400.

³⁰ Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³¹ those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were ^(AB)57,400.

³² Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³³ those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were ^(AC)40,500.

³⁴ Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁵ those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were ^(AD)32,200.

³⁶ Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁷ those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were ^(AE)35,400.

³⁸ Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁹ those listed of the tribe of Dan were ^(AF)62,700.

⁴⁰ Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ⁴¹ those listed of the tribe of Asher were ^(AG)41,500.

⁴² Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ⁴³ those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were ^(AH)53,400.

^44 (AI)These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house. ⁴⁵ So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— ⁴⁶ all those listed were ^(AJ)603,550.

Levites Exempted

⁴⁷ But ^(AK)the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸ For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. ^50 (AL)But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it ^(AM)and shall camp around the tabernacle. ^51 (AN)When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. ^(AO)And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. ⁵² The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and ^(AP)each man by his own standard. ⁵³ But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no ^(AQ)wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. ^(AR)And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴ Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

Arrangement of the Camp

2 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ^2 (AS)“The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. ³ Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being ^(AT)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, ⁴ his company as listed being 74,600. ⁵ Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, ⁶ his company as listed being 54,400. ⁷ Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, ⁸ his company as listed being 57,400. ⁹ All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. ^(AU)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 chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, ¹¹ his company as listed being 46,500. ¹² And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, ¹³ his company as listed being 59,300. ¹⁴ Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of ^(AV)Reuel, ¹⁵ his company as listed being 45,650. ¹⁶ All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. ^(AW)They shall set out second.

^17 (AX)“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, 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 chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, ¹⁹ his company as listed being 40,500. ²⁰ And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, ²¹ his company as listed being 32,200. ²² Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, ²³ his company as listed being 35,400. ²⁴ All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. ^(AY)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 chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶ his company as listed being 62,700. ²⁷ And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, ²⁸ his company as listed being 41,500. ²⁹ Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, ³⁰ his company as listed being 53,400. ³¹ All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. ^(AZ)They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

³² These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers' houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were ^(BA)603,550. ³³ But ^(BB)the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁴ Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, ^(BC)so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers' house.

The Twelve Apostles

^13 (A)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^(B)whom he desired, and they came to him. ^14 (C)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ^15 (D)and have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed the twelve: ^(E)Simon (to whom ^(F)he gave the name Peter); ^17 (G)James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸ Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and ^(H)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^{[a] 19} and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

²⁰ Then he went ^(I)home, and the crowd gathered again, ^(J)so that they could not even eat. ^21 (K)And when ^(L)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ^(M)is out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²² And ^(N)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(O)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ^23 (P)And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But ^(Q)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(R)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

^28 (S)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever ^(T)blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

^31 (U)And his mother and his ^(V)brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers^[b] are outside, seeking you.” ³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And ^(W)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ^35 (X)For whoever ^(Y)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”