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The People of Israel Are Counted

(A) The people of Israel had left Egypt and were living in the Sinai Desert. Then on the first day of the second month[a] of the second year, when Moses was in the sacred tent the Lord said:

2-3 I want you and Aaron to find out how many people are in each of Israel's clans and families. And make a list of all the men 20 years and older who are able to fight in battle. 4-15 The following twelve family leaders, one from each tribe, will help you:

Elizur son of Shedeur

from Reuben,

Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai

from Simeon,

Nahshon son of Amminadab

from Judah,

Nethanel son of Zuar

from Issachar,

Eliab son of Helon

from Zebulun,

Elishama son of Ammihud

from Ephraim,

Gamaliel son of Pedahzur

from Manasseh,

Abidan son of Gideoni

from Benjamin,

Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai

from Dan,

Pagiel son of Ochran

from Asher,

Eliasaph son of Deuel

from Gad,

and Ahira son of Enan

from Naphtali.

16-17 Moses and Aaron, together with these twelve tribal leaders, 18 called together the people that same day. They were counted according to their clans and families. Then Moses and the others listed the names of the men twenty years and older, 19 just as the Lord had commanded. 20-46 The number of men from each tribe who were at least 20 years old and strong enough to fight in Israel's army was as follows:

46,500 from Reuben,

the oldest son of Jacob,[b]

59,300 from Simeon,

45,650 from Gad,

74,600 from Judah,

54,400 from Issachar,

57,400 from Zebulun,

40,500 from Ephraim,

32,200 from Manasseh,

35,400 from Benjamin,

62,700 from Dan,

41,500 from Asher,

53,400 from Naphtali.

The total number of men registered by Moses, Aaron, and the twelve leaders was 603,550.

47 But those from the Levi tribe were not included 48 because the Lord had said to Moses:

49 When you count the Israelites, do not include those from the Levi tribe. 50-51 Instead, give them the job of caring for the sacred tent, its furnishings, and the objects used for worship. They will camp around the tent, and whenever you move, they will take it down, carry it to the new camp, and set it up again. Anyone else who tries to go near it must be put to death.

52 The rest of the Israelites will camp in their own groups and under their own banners. 53 But the Levites will camp around the sacred tent to make sure that no one goes near it and makes me furious with the Israelites.

54 The people of Israel did everything the Lord had commanded.

Footnotes

  1. 1.1 second month: Ziv, the second month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-April to mid-May.
  2. 1.20-46 Jacob: The Hebrew text has “Israel,” Jacob's name after God renamed him.

Yahweh[a] spoke to 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 had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census 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, one by one, from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their divisions. With you there shall be a man of every tribe, each one head of his fathers’ house. These are the names of the men who 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 Deuel.

15 Of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan.”

16 These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes[b] of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel. 17 Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name. 18 They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one. 19 As Yahweh commanded Moses, so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 The children of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 21 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred.

22 Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, those who were counted of it, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 23 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 25 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand six hundred 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 who were able to go out to war: 27 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Judah, were seventy-four thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 29 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty-four thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 31 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

32 Of the children of Joseph: 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 who were able to go out to war: 33 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 35 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty-two thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 37 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 39 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 41 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty-one thousand 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 who were able to go out to war: 43 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

44 These are those who were counted, whom Moses and Aaron counted, and the twelve men who were princes of Israel, each one for his fathers’ house. 45 So all those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war in Israel— 46 all those who were counted were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. 47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them. 48 For Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel; 50 but appoint the Levites over the 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 take care of it, and shall encamp around it. 51 When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. 52 The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions. 53 But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel. The Levites shall be responsible for the Tabernacle of the Testimony.”

54 Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.
  2. 1:16 or, chiefs, or, leaders