Numbers 2

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Order of Encampment and Marching

2 The 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. ³ Those 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 Ammin′adab, ⁴ his host as numbered being seventy-four thousand six hundred. ⁵ Those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Is′sachar, the leader of the people of Is′sachar being Nethan′el the son of Zu′ar, ⁶ his host as numbered being fifty-four thousand four hundred. ⁷ Then the tribe of Zeb′ulun, the leader of the people of Zeb′ulun being Eli′ab the son of Helon, ⁸ his host as numbered being fifty-seven thousand four hundred. ⁹ The 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 Eli′zur the son of Shed′eur, ¹¹ his host as numbered being forty-six thousand five hundred. ¹² And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the leader of the people of Simeon being Shelu′mi-el the son of Zurishad′dai, ¹³ his host as numbered being fifty-nine thousand three hundred. ¹⁴ Then the tribe of Gad, the leader of the people of Gad being Eli′asaph the son of Reu′el, ¹⁵ his host as numbered being forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. ¹⁶ The 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 E′phraim by their companies, the leader of the people of E′phraim being Elish′ama the son of Ammi′hud, ¹⁹ his host as numbered being forty thousand five hundred. ²⁰ And next to him shall be the tribe of Manas′seh, the leader of the people of Manas′seh being Gama′liel the son of Pedah′zur, ²¹ his host as numbered being thirty-two thousand two hundred. ²² Then the tribe of Benjamin, the leader of the people of Benjamin being Abi′dan the son of Gideo′ni, ²³ his host as numbered being thirty-five thousand four hundred. ²⁴ The whole number of the camp of E′phraim, 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-e′zer the son of Ammishad′dai, ²⁶ his host as numbered being sixty-two thousand seven hundred. ²⁷ And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the leader of the people of Asher being Pa′giel the son of Ochran, ²⁸ his host as numbered being forty-one thousand five hundred. ²⁹ Then the tribe of Naph′tali, the leader of the people of Naph′tali being Ahi′ra the son of Enan, ³⁰ his host as numbered being fifty-three thousand four hundred. ³¹ The whole number of the camp of Dan is a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

³² These 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. ³³ But the Levites were not numbered 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, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, every one in his family, according to his fathers’ house.