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
Evangelical Heritage Version
The First Census of Israel
1 The Lord 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. He said, 2 “Take a census of the entire community of the people of Israel, according to their clans and their fathers’ houses.[a] Count the names of every male, one by one, 3 twenty years old and up, all who are of age to serve in Israel’s army. Aaron and you are to register them by their military units.[b] 4 A man from each tribe will be with you. Every one of them will be the head of his fathers’ house. 5 These are the names of the men who will assist 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 the 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 Ochran;
14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;
15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”
16 These were the men chosen from the community, the chiefs of the tribes of their fathers. They were the heads of Israel’s divisions.[c] 17 Moses and Aaron brought together these men, who had been designated by name. 18 They assembled the entire community on the first day of the second month, and they recorded the people’s ancestry by their clans,[d] by their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those who were twenty years old and up, one by one. 19 Moses registered them in the Wilderness of Sinai, exactly as the Lord commanded him.
20 The male descendants[e] of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing one by one the names of every male twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 21 Those who were registered from the tribe of Reuben totaled 46,500.
22 The male descendants of Simeon were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing one by one the names of every male twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 23 Those who were registered from the tribe of Simeon totaled 59,300.
24 The male descendants of Gad were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 25 Those who were registered from the tribe of Gad totaled 45,650.
26 The male descendants of Judah were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 27 Those who were registered from the tribe of Judah totaled 74,600.
28 The male descendants of Issachar were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 29 Those who were registered from the tribe of Issachar totaled 54,400.
30 The male descendants of Zebulun were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 31 Those who were registered from the tribe of Zebulun totaled 57,400.
32 The male descendants of Joseph who were the descendants of Ephraim were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 33 Those who were registered from the tribe of Ephraim totaled 40,500.
34 Those who were male descendants of Manasseh were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 35 Those who were registered from the tribe of Manasseh totaled 32,200.
36 The male descendants of Benjamin were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 37 Those who were registered from the tribe of Benjamin totaled 35,400.
38 The male descendants of Dan were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 39 Those who were registered from the tribe of Dan totaled 62,700.
40 The male descendants of Asher were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 41 Those who were registered from the tribe of Asher totaled 41,500.
42 The male descendants of Naphtali were registered from their family records, according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those twenty years old and up, all who were of age to serve in the army. 43 Those who were registered from the tribe of Naphtali totaled 53,400.
44 These are the men who were registered by Moses and Aaron and twelve tribal chiefs of Israel, each representing his fathers’ house. 45 So all of the Israelite men twenty years old and up, who were of age to serve in Israel’s army, were registered according to their fathers’ houses. 46 Those who were registered totaled 603,550.
The Levites Exempted
47 But the Levites were not registered along with the others on the basis of their fathers’ tribe, 48 for the Lord had said to Moses, 49 “You are not to register the tribe of Levi, neither will you take a census of them along with the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites over the Dwelling of the Testimony[f] and over all its furnishings and over everything that belongs to it. They are to carry the Dwelling and all its furnishings. They are to take care of it, and they are to camp around it. 51 Whenever the Dwelling is to move, the Levites will take it down, and whenever the Dwelling is to stop for a new camp, the Levites will set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near it must be put to death. 52 The Israelites will set up camp, everyone in his own camp and under his own standard, according to their military divisions. 53 But the Levites will camp around the Dwelling of the Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. In this way the Levites will perform the duties for the Dwelling of the Testimony.”
54 So the Israelites did everything that the Lord commanded Moses, exactly as he commanded.
Footnotes
- Numbers 1:2 Because Israel’s social structure was based on kinship, the fathers’ house (or sometimes the father’s house) was one of the basic social units of Israel. The fathers’ house seems to have been smaller than the tribe and clan but larger than the immediate family. However, the use of the term fathers’ house does not seem to be consistent. Every level of Israelite social structure was a fathers’ house, though they were also called by other names.
- Numbers 1:3 Literally all those going out with the army. Israel’s army was arranged in geographical units, somewhat like the units of the US National Guard. Israel’s geographic and social units were also family units.
- Numbers 1:16 Literally thousands
- Numbers 1:18 Or extended family (Hebrew mishpachah)
- Numbers 1:20 Literally sons
- Numbers 1:50 Traditionally Tabernacle, but Dwelling more clearly expresses the meaning of the term. The Testimony is the set of tablets that contained the Ten Commandments.
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