Numbers 1:42-3:32

English Standard Version

⁴²Of 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: ⁴³those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were ^(A)53,400.

⁴⁴^(B)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. ⁴⁵So 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— ⁴⁶all those listed were ^(C)603,550.

Levites Exempted

⁴⁷But ^(D)the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸For 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^(E)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 ^(F)and shall camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹^(G)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. ^(H)And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. ⁵²The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and ^(I)each man by his own standard. ⁵³But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no ^(J)wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. ^(K)And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴Thus 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^(L)“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. ³Those 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 ^(M)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, ⁴his company as listed being 74,600. ⁵Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, ⁶his company as listed being 54,400. ⁷Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, ⁸his company as listed being 57,400. ⁹All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. ^(N)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, ¹¹his company as listed being 46,500. ¹²And 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, ¹³his company as listed being 59,300. ¹⁴Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of ^(O)Reuel, ¹⁵his company as listed being 45,650. ¹⁶All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. ^(P)They shall set out second.

¹⁷^(Q)“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, ¹⁹his company as listed being 40,500. ²⁰And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, ²¹his company as listed being 32,200. ²²Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, ²³his company as listed being 35,400. ²⁴All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. ^(R)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, ²⁶his company as listed being 62,700. ²⁷And 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, ²⁸his company as listed being 41,500. ²⁹Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, ³⁰his company as listed being 53,400. ³¹All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. ^(S)They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

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

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

The Sons of Aaron

3 These 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: ^(W)Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ^(X)the anointed priests, ^(Y)whom he ordained to serve as priests. ⁴^(Z)But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized 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.

Duties of the Levites

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶^(AA)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, ^(AB)as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁸They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹And ^(AC)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are ^(AD)wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and ^(AE)they shall guard their priesthood. But if ^(AF)any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Behold, ^(AG)I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³for ^(AH)all the firstborn are mine. ^(AI)On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

¹⁴And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“List the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by clans; ^(AJ)every male from a month old and upward you shall list.” ¹⁶So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷^(AK)And 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 clans: ^(AL)Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their clans: ^(AM)Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merari by their clans: ^(AN)Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers' houses.

²¹To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. ²²Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was^[a] 7,500. ²³^(AO)The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers' house of the Gershonites. ²⁵And the ^(AP)guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved ^(AQ)the tabernacle, ^(AR)the tent with ^(AS)its covering, ^(AT)the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶^(AU)the hangings of the court, ^(AV)the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and ^(AW)its cords—all the service connected with these.

²⁷To Kohath belonged the clan of the ^(AX)Amramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. ²⁹The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰with ^(AY)Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers' house of the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹And their guard duty involved ^(AZ)the ark, ^(BA)the table, ^(BB)the lampstand, ^(BC)the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and ^(BD)the screen; all the service connected with these. ³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.