Numbers 1
The Voice
The people of the Lord have been out of Egypt for more than a year; and God has provided direction, instruction, and correction from inside columns of smoke, from on top of mountains, from anywhere His people were located. But now they have the special congregation tent—a complex, multilayered tent within an enclosed court, which they can take along on their journeys and set up anywhere. This is a holy place for the people of the Lord. It is the place for them to offer sacrifices; and inside this special tent, behind a heavy curtain, is the holiest place of all, where their spiritual leaders receive revelation from God. There are two Hebrew words used for this special place. One is literally “tent” while the other is “dwelling.” The word “tent” usually refers to the entire congregation tent, where any Israelite may come to the outer court and sacrifice. The word “dwelling” is used for that extra holy place or sanctuary behind the curtain, the residence of God or the place of His revelation where only certain priests were allowed.
Now the people are ready to begin the preparation to move into the land promised to them by the Lord. First, He sets about organizing this enormous band of escaped slaves.
1 Nearly two years after they had left Egypt, the Israelites were still in the wild desert area of Sinai. But on the first day of the second month, the Eternal One spoke to Moses in the tent of congregation.
Eternal One (to Moses): 2 Add up exactly how many Israelites there are, but don’t merely count them. Identify all the people by their clans and families, right down to the individual name of every male. 3 Furthermore, those who are 20 years old or older shall be considered potential soldiers. Aaron can help you organize them into groups and record them as armies. 4 Your leadership team will include someone from each tribe who is the head of his extended family. 5 They are: Elizur (Shedeur’s son) from the Reuben family; 6 Shelumiel (Zurishaddai’s son) from the Simeon family; 7 Nahshon (Amminidab’s son) from the Judah family; 8 Nethanel (Zuar’s son) from the Issachar family; 9 Eliab (Helon’s son) from the Zebulun family; 10 from the two branches of Joseph’s family, Elishama (Ammihud’s son) from the Ephraim family and Gamaliel (Pedahzur’s son) from the Manasseh family; 11 Abidan (Gideoni’s son) from the Benjamin family; 12 Ahiezer (Ammishaddai’s son) from the Dan family; 13 Pagiel (Ochran’s son) from the Asher family; 14 Eliasaph (Deuel’s son) from the Gad family; 15 and Ahira (Enan’s son) from the Naphtali family. 16 These are the tribal leaders and representatives of the extended families, chosen by the community. They are the heads of the clans that compose Israel.
17 Moses and Aaron gathered these chosen leaders by name; 18 and on the first day of the second month, they brought the whole community together to register by their clans and extended families and to specify individuals who were 20 years old and older. 19 This Moses did in the wild desert area of Sinai, just as the Eternal One had directed him to do. 20-21 This is the tally of the twelve clans by extended family, identifying those for battle (20 years old and older): from Reuben’s tribe (Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob, whom God renamed “Israel”)—46,500; 22-23 from Simeon’s tribe—59,300; 24-25 from Gad—45,650; 26-27 from Judah—74,600; 28-29 from Issachar—54,400; 30-31 from Zebulun—57,400; 32-35 from Joseph, the Ephraim tribe—40,500; from Joseph, the Manasseh tribe—32,200; 36-37 from Benjamin—35,400; 38-39 from Dan—62,700; 40-41 from Asher—41,500; 42-43 from Naphtali—53,400. 44 This is the organization that Moses, Aaron, and the heads of the twelve clans recorded according to their extended families. 45 Those who were 20 years old or older and could fight in the army 46 totaled 603,550.
Three times God calls the Israelites to count their people. In Exodus 30, they count the population to develop an orderly funding program for the construction of the congregation tent. Here God tells them to count the men eligible for fighting in their militia; and in chapter 26, after a plague has ravaged the people, they will once again determine the size and makeup of their fighting force. It is interesting to note the change in the number of warriors within each of the extended families. Some tribes experience a tremendous loss in the number of fighters, and other tribes have a considerable increase:
47-49 The Levites were not included in this registration and organizing of the extended families’ tribe members because the Eternal One had expressly told Moses not to count them.
Eternal One (to Moses): 50 You will make the Levites responsible for the congregation tent that houses the terms of the covenant, its furnishings, and accoutrements. They will be the ones who carry all of it, maintain it, and camp around it. 51 When it’s time to move, it will be the Levites who pack up that tent; they are the ones who shall set it back up. If any outsider tries to get involved, he will be killed. 52 The rest of the Israelites will camp according to their troops, each extended family under its own banner. 53 Remember: only the Levites shall camp around the congregation tent that houses the terms of the covenant, guarding and servicing that place to spare the Israelites an outbreak of My wrath.
54 The Israelites did all this, exactly as the Eternal One had commanded through Moses.
Numbers 1
Christian Standard Bible
The Census of Israel
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting(A) in the Wilderness of Sinai,(B) on the first day of the second month of the second year(C) after Israel’s departure from the land of Egypt: 2 “Take a census(D) of the entire Israelite community by their clans and their ancestral families,[a] counting the names of every male one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to register those who are twenty years old or more by their military divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army.[b](E) 4 A man from each tribe is to be with you, each one the head of his ancestral family.[c](F) 5 These are the names of the men who are to assist you:(G)
Elizur son of Shedeur from Reuben;
6 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai from Simeon;
7 Nahshon son of Amminadab from Judah;
8 Nethanel son of Zuar from Issachar;
9 Eliab son of Helon from Zebulun;
10 from the sons of Joseph:
Elishama son of Ammihud from Ephraim,
Gamaliel son of Pedahzur from Manasseh;
11 Abidan son of Gideoni from Benjamin;
12 Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai from Dan;
13 Pagiel son of Ochran from Asher;
14 Eliasaph son of Deuel[d] from Gad;
15 Ahira son of Enan from Naphtali.
16 These are the men called from the community; they are leaders of their ancestral tribes,(H) the heads of Israel’s clans.”(I)
17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,(J) 18 and they assembled the whole community on the first day of the second month. They recorded their ancestry by their clans and their ancestral families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years old or more, 19 just as the Lord commanded Moses. He registered them in the Wilderness of Sinai:
20 The descendants of Reuben,(K) the firstborn of Israel: according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 21 those registered for the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500.
22 The descendants of Simeon:(L) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, those registered counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 23 those registered for the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.
24 The descendants of Gad:(M) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 25 those registered for the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650.
26 The descendants of Judah:(N) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 27 those registered for the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.
28 The descendants of Issachar:(O) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 29 those registered for the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400.
30 The descendants of Zebulun:(P) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 31 those registered for the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400.
32 The descendants of Joseph:(Q)
The descendants of Ephraim:(R) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 33 those registered for the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500.
34 The descendants of Manasseh:(S) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 35 those registered for the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.
36 The descendants of Benjamin:(T) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 37 those registered for the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.
38 The descendants of Dan:(U) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 39 those registered for the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700.
40 The descendants of Asher:(V) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 41 those registered for the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500.
42 The descendants of Naphtali:(W) according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of those twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, 43 those registered for the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400.
44 These are the men Moses and Aaron registered, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel; each represented his ancestral family. 45 So all the Israelites twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in Israel’s army, were registered by their ancestral families. 46 All those registered numbered 603,550.(X)
Duties of the Levites
47 But the Levites(Y) were not registered with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the Lord had told Moses, 49 “Do not register or take a census of the tribe of Levi with the other Israelites. 50 Appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They are to transport the tabernacle and all its articles, take care of it, and camp around it. 51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. Any unauthorized(Z) person who comes near it is to be put to death.(AA)
52 “The Israelites are to camp by their military divisions, each man with his encampment and under his banner. 53 The Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the Israelite community.”(AB) 54 The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.(AC)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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