14 “Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of [a]Reuel.” 15 And his army was numbered at forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 16 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty—(A)they shall [b]be the second to break camp.

17 (B)“And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the [c]camp of the Levites (C)in the middle of the [d]camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their [e]standards.

18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the forces with Ephraim according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” 19 And his army was numbered at forty thousand five hundred.

20 “Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.” 21 And his army was numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred.

22 “Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.” 23 And his army was numbered at thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred—(D)they shall [f]be the third to break camp.

25 “The [g]standard of the forces with Dan shall be on the north side according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.” 26 And his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

27 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.” 28 And his army was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred.

29 “Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.” 30 And his army was numbered at fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 “All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred—(E)they shall [h]break camp last, with their [i]standards.”

32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. (F)All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 But (G)the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

34 Thus the children of Israel (H)did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; (I)so they camped by their [j]standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.

The Sons of Aaron(J)

Now these are the (K)records[k] of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the (L)firstborn, and (M)Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, (N)the anointed priests, [l]whom he consecrated to minister as priests. (O)Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: (P)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do (Q)the work of the tabernacle. Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. And (R)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to [m]him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, (S)and they shall attend to their priesthood; (T)but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “Now behold, (U)I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be (V)Mine, 13 because (W)all the firstborn are Mine. (X)On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 2:14 Deuel, Num. 1:14; 7:42
  2. Numbers 2:16 Lit. set forth second
  3. Numbers 2:17 company
  4. Numbers 2:17 whole company
  5. Numbers 2:17 banners
  6. Numbers 2:24 Lit. set forth third
  7. Numbers 2:25 banner
  8. Numbers 2:31 Lit. set forth last
  9. Numbers 2:31 banners
  10. Numbers 2:34 banners
  11. Numbers 3:1 Lit. generations
  12. Numbers 3:3 Lit. whose hands he filled
  13. Numbers 3:9 Sam., LXX Me

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