Numbers 1
Legacy Standard Bible
The Census of Israel’s Warriors
1 Then [a]Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on (A)the first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “(B)Take a [b]census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head 3 from (C)twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall [c]number them by their armies. 4 With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, (D)each one head of his father’s household. 5 These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you:
(E)of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
6 of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
7 of Judah, (F)Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
8 of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;
9 of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;
10 of the sons 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 (G)Deuel;
15 of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.
16 These are they who were (H)called upon by the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ tribes; they were the (I)heads of [d]divisions of Israel.”
17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, 18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the (J)first of the second month. Then they registered by (K)genealogy in their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 just as (L)Yahweh had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
20 (M)Now the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 21 their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.
22 (N)Of the sons of Simeon, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, their numbered men, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, (O)whoever was able to go out to war, 23 their numbered men of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
24 (P)Of the sons of Gad, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 25 their numbered men of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
26 (Q)Of the sons of Judah, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 27 their numbered men of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
28 (R)Of the sons of Issachar, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 29 their numbered men of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.
30 (S)Of the sons of Zebulun, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 31 their numbered men of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.
32 (T)Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 33 their numbered men of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
34 (U)Of the sons of Manasseh, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 35 their numbered men of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
36 (V)Of the sons of Benjamin, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 37 their numbered men of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
38 (W)Of the sons of Dan, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 39 their numbered men of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
40 (X)Of the sons of Asher, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 41 their numbered men of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.
42 (Y)Of the sons of Naphtali, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, 43 their numbered men of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.
44 These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each of whom was of his father’s household. 45 So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel, 46 even all the numbered men were (Z)603,550.
Levites Not Numbered in the Census
47 (AA)The Levites, however, were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe. 48 Yahweh had spoken to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi (AB)you shall not number, nor shall you take their [e]census among the sons of Israel. 50 But you shall (AC)appoint the Levites over the [f]tabernacle of the testimony and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall attend to it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle. 51 (AD)So when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But (AE)the [g]layman who comes near shall be put to death. 52 (AF)And the sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own standard, according to their armies. 53 (AG)But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony so that there will be (AH)no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. (AI)So the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 Thus the sons of Israel did; according to all which Yahweh had commanded Moses, so they did.
Footnotes
- Numbers 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Numbers 1:2 Lit sum
- Numbers 1:3 Lit muster, so in ch
- Numbers 1:16 Or clans; lit thousands
- Numbers 1:49 Lit sum
- Numbers 1:50 Lit dwelling place, so in ch
- Numbers 1:51 Lit stranger
Numbers 1
New Century Version
The People of Israel Are Counted
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Meeting Tent in the Desert of Sinai. This was on the first day of the second month in the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. He said to Moses: 2 “You and Aaron must count all the people of Israel by families and family groups, listing the name of each man. 3 You and Aaron must count every man twenty years old or older who will serve in the army of Israel, and list them by their divisions. 4 One man from each tribe, the leader of his family, will help you. 5 These are the names of the men who will help you:
from the tribe of Reuben—Elizur son of Shedeur;
6 from the tribe of Simeon—Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;
7 from the tribe of Judah—Nahshon son of Amminadab;
8 from the tribe of Issachar—Nethanel son of Zuar;
9 from the tribe of Zebulun—Eliab son of Helon;
10 from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph—Elishama son of Ammihud;
from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
11 from the tribe of Benjamin—Abidan son of Gideoni;
12 from the tribe of Dan—Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
13 from the tribe of Asher—Pagiel son of Ocran;
14 from the tribe of Gad—Eliasaph son of Deuel;
15 from the tribe of Naphtali—Ahira son of Enan.”
16 These were the men chosen from the people to be leaders of their tribes, the heads of Israel’s family groups.
17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been picked 18 and called all the people of Israel together on the first day of the second month. Then the people were listed by their families and family groups, and all the men who were twenty years old or older were listed by name. 19 Moses did exactly what the Lord had commanded and listed the people while they were in the Desert of Sinai.
20 The tribe of Reuben, the first son born to Israel, was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 21 The tribe of Reuben totaled 46,500 men.
22 The tribe of Simeon was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 23 The tribe of Simeon totaled 59,300 men.
24 The tribe of Gad was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 25 The tribe of Gad totaled 45,650 men.
26 The tribe of Judah was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 27 The tribe of Judah totaled 74,600 men.
28 The tribe of Issachar was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 29 The tribe of Issachar totaled 54,400 men.
30 The tribe of Zebulun was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 31 The tribe of Zebulun totaled 57,400 men.
32 The tribe of Ephraim, a son of Joseph, was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 33 The tribe of Ephraim totaled 40,500 men.
34 The tribe of Manasseh, also a son of Joseph, was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 35 The tribe of Manasseh totaled 32,200 men.
36 The tribe of Benjamin was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 37 The tribe of Benjamin totaled 35,400 men.
38 The tribe of Dan was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 39 The tribe of Dan totaled 62,700 men.
40 The tribe of Asher was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 41 The tribe of Asher totaled 41,500 men.
42 The tribe of Naphtali was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups. 43 The tribe of Naphtali totaled 53,400 men.
44 Moses, Aaron, and the twelve leaders of Israel, one from each of the families, counted these men. 45 Every man of Israel twenty years old or older who was able to serve in the army was counted and listed with his family. 46 The total number of men was 603,550.
47 The families from the tribe of Levi were not listed with the others, because 48 the Lord had told Moses: 49 “Do not count the tribe of Levi or include them with the other Israelites. 50 Instead put the Levites in charge of the Holy Tent of the Agreement and everything that is with it. They must carry the Holy Tent and everything in it, and they must take care of it and make their camp around it. 51 Any time the Holy Tent is moved, the Levites must take it down, and any time it is set up, the Levites must do it. Anyone else who goes near the Holy Tent will be put to death. 52 The Israelites will make their camps in separate divisions, each family near its flag. 53 But the Levites must make their camp around the Holy Tent of the Agreement so that I will not be angry with the Israelites. The Levites will take care of the Holy Tent of the Agreement.”
54 So the Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
