Numbers 1
Expanded Bible
The People of Israel Are Counted
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Meeting Tent [C the Tabernacle; Ex. 25–31] in the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Sinai. This was on the first day of the second month in the second year after the Israelites left Egypt [Ex. 12:50–51; C one year later]. He said to Moses: 2 “You and Aaron must ·count [take a census of; L lift the head of] all the ·people of Israel [community/congregation/assembly of the sons/T children of Israel] by ·families [clans] and family groups, listing the name of each ·man [male]. 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 [C like a military registration]. 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 [community; congregation; assembly] to be leaders of their tribes, the heads of Israel’s family groups.
17 Moses and Aaron took these men ·who had been picked [L whose names had been designated] 18 and ·called [assembled] all the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] of Israel together on the first day of the second month. Then the people ·were listed [registered their genealogies] by their ·families [clans] and family groups, and all the ·men [males] who were twenty years old or older were listed by name. 19 Moses did exactly what the Lord had commanded and ·listed [enrolled] the people while they were in the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Sinai.
20 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Reuben, the first son born to Israel [C Jacob; Gen. 35:23; 46:8; 49:3], ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 21 The tribe of Reuben totaled 46,500 men.
22 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Simeon ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 23 The tribe of Simeon totaled 59,300 men.
24 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Gad ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 25 The tribe of Gad totaled 45,650 men.
26 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Judah ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 27 The tribe of Judah totaled 74,600 men.
28 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Issachar ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 29 The tribe of Issachar totaled 54,400 men.
30 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Zebulun ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 31 The tribe of Zebulun totaled 57,400 men.
32 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Ephraim, a son of Joseph, ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 33 The tribe of Ephraim totaled 40,500 men.
34 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Manasseh, also a son of Joseph, ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 35 The tribe of Manasseh totaled 32,200 men.
36 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Benjamin ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 37 The tribe of Benjamin totaled 35,400 men.
38 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Dan ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 39 The tribe of Dan totaled 62,700 men.
40 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Asher ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] and family groups. 41 The tribe of Asher totaled 41,500 men.
42 The ·tribe [L sons; descendants] of Naphtali ·was counted [L according to their records/lineage]; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their ·families [clans] 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 family groups, 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 group. 46 The total number of men was 603,550.
47 The families groups from the tribe of Levi were not ·listed [counted] with the others, because 48 the Lord had told Moses: 49 “Do not count the tribe of Levi or ·include [take a census of; L lift the head of] them with the other Israelites. 50 Instead put the Levites in charge of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] of the ·Agreement [Treaty; Covenant; L Testimony; C the Ten Commandments were in the Ark in the Tabernacle; Ex. 25:10] and everything that is with it [Ex. 32:26–29]. They must carry the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and everything in it, and they must take care of it and make their camp around it. 51 Any time the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] ·is moved [sets out], the Levites must take it down, and any time it is ·set up [pitched], the Levites must do it. Anyone else who goes near the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] will be put to death. 52 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] will make their camps in separate divisions, each family near its ·flag [standard]. 53 But the Levites must make their camp around the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] of the ·Agreement [Testimony; Treaty; Covenant; 1:50] so that I will not be angry with the ·Israelites [community/ congregation/assembly of the sons/T children of Israel]. The Levites will take care of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] of the ·Agreement [Testimony; Treaty; Covenant; 1:50].”
54 So the Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Numbers 1
New King James Version
The First Census of Israel(A)
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses (B)in the Wilderness of Sinai, (C)in the tabernacle of meeting, on the (D)first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 (E)“Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male (F)individually, 3 from (G)twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house.
5 “These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6 from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran; 14 from Gad, Eliasaph the son of (H)Deuel;[a] 15 from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” 16 (I)These were (J)chosen[b] from the congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, (K)heads of the divisions in Israel.
17 Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been [c]mentioned (L)by name, 18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their (M)ancestry by families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually. 19 As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.
20 Now the (N)children of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 21 those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.
22 From the (O)children of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, of those who were numbered, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 23 those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
24 From the (P)children of Gad, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 25 those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
26 From the (Q)children of Judah, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 27 those who were numbered of the tribe of Judah were (R)seventy-four thousand six hundred.
28 From the (S)children of Issachar, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 29 those who were numbered of the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.
30 From the (T)children of Zebulun, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 31 those who were numbered of the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
32 From the sons of Joseph, the (U)children of Ephraim, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 33 those who were numbered of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred.
34 From the (V)children of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 35 those who were numbered of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
36 From the (W)children of Benjamin, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 37 those who were numbered of the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.
38 From the (X)children of Dan, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 39 those who were numbered of the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
40 From the (Y)children of Asher, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 41 those who were numbered of the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.
42 From the children of Naphtali, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 43 those who were numbered of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
44 (Z)These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each one representing his father’s house. 45 So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel— 46 all who were numbered were (AA)six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
47 But (AB)the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe; 48 for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: 49 (AC)“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; 50 (AD)but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it (AE)and camp around the tabernacle. 51 (AF)And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it (AG)up. (AH)The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 52 The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, (AI)everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies; 53 (AJ)but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no (AK)wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall (AL)keep[d] charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”
54 Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.
Footnotes
- Numbers 1:14 Reuel, Num. 2:14
- Numbers 1:16 called
- Numbers 1:17 designated
- Numbers 1:53 have in their care
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
