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And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, by their polls; from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, thou and Aaron shall number them by their hosts. And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of his fathers’ house. And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you. Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur. Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. Of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar. Of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon. 10 Of the children of Joseph: Of Ephraim: Elishama the son of Ammihud. Of Manasseh: Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 11 Of Benjamin: Abidan the son of Gideoni. 12 Of Dan: Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 13 Of Asher: Pagiel the son of Ochran. 14 Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of [a]Deuel. 15 Of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan. 16 These are they that were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the [b]thousands of Israel. 17 And Moses and Aaron took these men that are mentioned by name: 18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. 19 As Jehovah commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 And the children of Reuben, Israel’s first-born, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 21 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

22 Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, those that were numbered thereof, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 23 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

24 Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 25 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 27 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

28 Of the children of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 29 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

30 Of the children of Zebulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 31 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

32 Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 33 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.

34 Of the children of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 35 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

36 Of the children of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 37 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

38 Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 39 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

40 Of the children of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 41 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

42 Of the children of Naphtali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 43 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

44 These are they that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: they were each one for his fathers’ house. 45 So all they that were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; 46 even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. 48 For Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 49 Only the tribe of Levi thou shalt not number, neither shalt thou take the sum of them among the children of Israel; 50 but appoint thou the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all the furniture thereof, and over all that belongeth to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their hosts. 53 But the Levites shall encamp round about the tabernacle of the testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony. 54 Thus did the children of Israel; according to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so did they.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 1:14 In 2:14, Reuel.
  2. Numbers 1:16 Or, families

It was on the fifteenth day of April[a] of the second year after the Israelis left Egypt that the Lord issued the following instructions to Moses. (He was in the Tabernacle at the camp of Israel on the Sinai peninsula at the time.)

2-15 “Take a census of all the men twenty years old and older who are able to go to war, indicating their tribe and family. You and Aaron are to direct the project, assisted by these leaders from each tribe”:

TribeLeader
ReubenElizur (son of Shedeur)
SimeonShelumiel (son of Zurishaddai)
JudahNahshon (son of Amminadab)
IssacharNethanel (son of Zuar)
ZebulunEliab (son of Helon)
Ephraim (son of Joseph)Elishama (son of Ammihud)
Manasseh (son of Joseph)Gamaliel (son of Pedahzur)
BenjaminAbidan (son of Gideoni)
DanAhiezer (son of Ammishaddai)
AsherPagiel (son of Ochran)
GadEliasaph (son of Deuel)
NaphtaliAhira (son of Enan)

16 These were the tribal leaders elected from among the people.

17-19 [b] On the same day Moses and Aaron and the above-named leaders summoned all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older to come and register, each man indicating his tribe and family, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 20-46 Here is the final tabulation:

TribeTotal
Reuben (the oldest son of Jacob)46,500
Simeon59,300
Gad45,650
Judah74,600
Issachar54,400
Zebulun57,400
Joseph: Ephraim (son of Joseph)40,500
Joseph: Manasseh (son of Joseph)32,200
Benjamin35,400
Dan62,700
Asher41,500
Naphtali53,400

Grand Total: 603,550

47-49 This total does not include the Levites, for the Lord had said to Moses, “Exempt the entire tribe of Levi from the draft, and do not include their number in the census. 50 For the Levites are assigned for the work connected with the Tabernacle and its transportation. They are to live near the Tabernacle, 51 and whenever the Tabernacle is moved, the Levites are to take it down and set it up again; anyone else touching it shall be executed. 52 Each tribe of Israel shall have a separate camping area with its own flag. 53 The Levites’ tents shall be clustered around the Tabernacle as a wall between the people of Israel and God’s wrath—to protect them from his fierce anger against their sins.”

54 So all these instructions of the Lord to Moses were put into effect.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 1:1 fifteenth day of April, literally, “on the first day of the second month” (of the Jewish calendar). So also for vv. 17-19 On the same day.
  2. Numbers 1:17 Added in the Hebrew text is this sentence: “So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.”