Numbers 1
The Message
Census in the Wilderness of Sinai
1 1-5 God spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai at the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month in the second year after they had left Egypt. He said, “Number the congregation of the People of Israel by clans and families, writing down the names of every male. You and Aaron are to register, company by company, every man who is twenty years and older who is able to fight in the army. Pick one man from each tribe who is head of his family to help you. These are the names of the men who will help you:
from Reuben: Elizur son of Shedeur
6 from Simeon: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai
7 from Judah: Nahshon son of Amminadab
8 from Issachar: Nethanel son of Zuar
9 from Zebulun: Eliab son of Helon
10 from the sons of Joseph,
from Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud
from Manasseh: Gamaliel son of Pedahzur
11 from Benjamin: Abidan son of Gideoni
12 from Dan: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai
13 from Asher: Pagiel son of Ocran
14 from Gad: Eliasaph son of Deuel
15 from Naphtali: Ahira son of Enan.”
16 These were the men chosen from the congregation, leaders of their ancestral tribes, heads of Israel’s military divisions.
17-19 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named to help and gathered the whole congregation together on the first day of the second month. The people registered themselves in their tribes according to their ancestral families, putting down the names of those who were twenty years old and older, just as God commanded Moses. He numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.
20-21 The line of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by tribes according to their ancestral families. The tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500.
22-23 The line of Simeon: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.
24-25 The line of Gad: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Gad numbered 45,650.
26-27 The line of Judah: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.
28-29 The line of Issachar: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400.
30-31 The line of Zebulun: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400.
32-33 The line of Joseph: From son Ephraim the men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500.
34-35 And from son Manasseh the men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.
36-37 The line of Benjamin: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.
38-39 The line of Dan: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Dan numbered 62,700.
40-41 The line of Asher: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Asher numbered 41,500.
42-43 The line of Naphtali: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400.
44-46 These are the numbers of those registered by Moses and Aaron, registered with the help of the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each representing his ancestral family. The sum total of the People of Israel twenty years old and over who were able to fight in the army, counted by ancestral family, was 603,550.
47-51 The Levites, however, were not counted by their ancestral family along with the others. God had told Moses, “The tribe of Levi is an exception: Don’t register them. Don’t count the tribe of Levi; don’t include them in the general census of the People of Israel. Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of The Dwelling of The Testimony—over all its furnishings and everything connected with it. Their job is to carry The Dwelling and all its furnishings, maintain it, and camp around it. When it’s time to move The Dwelling, the Levites will take it down, and when it’s time to set it up, the Levites will do it. Anyone else who even goes near it will be put to death.
52-53 “The rest of the People of Israel will set up their tents in companies, every man in his own camp under its own flag. But the Levites will set up camp around The Dwelling of The Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the community of Israel. The Levites are responsible for the security of The Dwelling of The Testimony.”
54 The People of Israel did everything that God commanded Moses. They did it all.
Numbers 1
Young's Literal Translation
1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year of their going out of the land of Egypt, saying:
2 `Take ye up the sum of all the company of the sons of Israel by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names -- every male by their polls;
3 from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host in Israel, ye do number them by their hosts, thou and Aaron;
4 and with you there is a man for a tribe, each is a head to the house of his fathers.
5 `And these [are] the names of the men who stand with you: `For Reuben -- Elizur son of Shedeur.
6 `For Simeon -- Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
7 `For Judah -- Nahshon son of Amminadab.
8 `For Issachar -- Nathaneel son of Zuar.
9 `For Zebulun -- Eliab son of Helon.
10 `For the sons of Joseph -- for Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud: for Manasseh -- Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
11 `For Benjamin -- Abidan son of Gideoni.
12 `For Dan -- Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
13 `For Asher -- Pagiel son of Ocran.
14 `For Gad -- Eliasaph son of Deuel.
15 `For Naphtali -- Ahira son of Enan.'
16 These [are] those called of the company, princes of the tribes of their fathers; they [are] heads of the thousands of Israel.
17 And Moses taketh -- Aaron also -- these men, who were defined by name,
18 and all the company they assembled on the first of the second month, and they declare their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names from a son of twenty years and upward, by their polls,
19 as Jehovah hath commanded Moses; and he numbereth them in the wilderness of Sinai.
20 And the sons of Reuben, Israel's first-born -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, by their polls, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
21 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Reuben, are six and forty thousand and five hundred.
22 Of the sons of Simeon -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, its numbered ones in the number of names, by their polls, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
23 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Simeon, [are] nine and fifty thousand and three hundred.
24 Of the sons of Gad -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
25 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Gad, [are] five and forty thousand and six hundred and fifty.
26 Of the sons of Judah -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
27 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Judah, [are] four and seventy thousand and six hundred.
28 Of the sons of Issachar -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
29 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Issachar, [are] four and fifty thousand and four hundred.
30 Of the sons of Zebulun -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
31 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Zebulun, [are] seven and fifty thousand and four hundred.
32 Of the sons of Joseph -- of the sons of Ephraim -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
33 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Ephraim, [are] forty thousand and five hundred.
34 Of the sons of Manasseh -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
35 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Manasseh, [are] two and thirty thousand and two hundred.
36 Of the sons of Benjamin -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
37 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Benjamin, [are] five and thirty thousand and four hundred.
38 Of the sons of Dan -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
39 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Dan, [are] two and sixty thousand and seven hundred.
40 Of the sons of Asher -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
41 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Asher, [are] one and forty thousand and five hundred.
42 [Of] the sons of Naphtali -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --
43 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Naphtali, [are] three and fifty thousand and four hundred.
44 These [are] those numbered, whom Moses numbered -- Aaron also, and the princes of Israel, twelve men -- each for the house of his fathers, they have been.
45 And they are, all those numbered of the sons of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host in Israel,
46 yea, all those numbered are six hundred thousand, and three thousand, and five hundred and fifty.
47 And the Levites, for the tribe of their fathers, have not numbered themselves in their midst,
48 seeing Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
49 `Only, the tribe of Levi thou dost not number, and their sum thou dost not take up in the midst of the sons of Israel;
50 and thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all that it hath; they bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels, and they serve it; and round about the tabernacle they encamp.
51 `And in the journeying of the tabernacle, the Levites take it down, and in the encamping of the tabernacle, the Levites raise it up; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.'
52 And the sons of Israel have encamped, each by his camp, and each by his standard, by their hosts;
53 and the Levites encamp round about the tabernacle of the testimony; and there is no wrath on the company of the sons of Israel, and the Levites have kept the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.
54 And the sons of Israel do according to all that Jehovah hath commanded Moses; so they have done.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson