The People of Israel Are Counted

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Meeting Tent. This was in the Desert of Sinai. It was on the first day of the second month. This was in the second year after the people of Israel left Egypt. The Lord said to Moses: ² “Count all the people of Israel. List the name of each man with his family and family group. ³ You and Aaron must count all the men of Israel 20 years old or older. They will serve in the army of Israel. List them by their divisions. ⁴ One man from each tribe will help you. He is to be the leader of his family. ⁵ These are the names of the men who will help you:

¹⁶ All these men were chosen by the people to be leaders of their tribes. They were the leaders of their family groups.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men who had been picked. ¹⁸ And Moses and Aaron called all the people of Israel together. This was the first day of the second month. Then the people were listed by their families and family groups. All the men who were 20 years old or older were listed by name. ¹⁹ Moses did exactly what the Lord had commanded. Moses listed the people while they were in the Desert of Sinai.

²⁰ The tribe of Reuben was counted. Reuben was the first son born to Israel. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were each listed by name with their families and family groups. ²¹ The tribe of Reuben totaled 46,500 men.

²² The tribe of Simeon was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were each listed by name with their families and family groups. ²³ The tribe of Simeon totaled 59,300 men.

²⁴ The tribe of Gad was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ²⁵ The tribe of Gad totaled 45,650 men.

²⁶ The tribe of Judah was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ²⁷ The tribe of Judah totaled 74,600 men.

²⁸ The tribe of Issachar was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ²⁹ The tribe of Issachar totaled 54,400 men.

³⁰ The tribe of Zebulun was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³¹ The tribe of Zebulun totaled 57,400 men.

³² The tribe of Ephraim was counted. (Ephraim was a son of Joseph.) All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³³ The tribe of Ephraim totaled 40,500 men.

³⁴ The tribe of Manasseh was counted. (Manasseh was also a son of Joseph.) All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³⁵ The tribe of Manasseh totaled 32,200 men.

³⁶ The tribe of Benjamin was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³⁷ The tribe of Benjamin totaled 35,400 men.

³⁸ The tribe of Dan was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³⁹ The tribe of Dan totaled 62,700 men.

⁴⁰ The tribe of Asher was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ⁴¹ The tribe of Asher totaled 41,500 men.

⁴² The tribe of Naphtali was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ⁴³ The tribe of Naphtali totaled 53,400 men.

⁴⁴ Moses, Aaron and the 12 leaders of Israel counted these men. There was 1 leader from each of the families. ⁴⁵ Every man of Israel 20 years old or older who was able to serve in the army was counted. Each man was listed with his family. ⁴⁶ The total number of men was 603,550.

⁴⁷ The families from the tribe of Levi were not listed with the others. ⁴⁸ The Lord had told Moses: ⁴⁹ “Do not count the tribe of Levi or include them with the other Israelites. ⁵⁰ But make the Levites responsible for the Holy Tent of the Agreement. They must take care of it and everything that is with it. They must carry the Holy Tent and everything in it. They must take care of it and make their camp around it. ⁵¹ Any time the Holy Tent is moved, the Levites must take it down. Any time it is set up, the Levites must do it. If anyone else goes near the Holy Tent, he will be put to death. ⁵² The Israelites will make their camps in separate divisions, each man near his family flag. ⁵³ But the Levites must make their camp around the Holy Tent of the Agreement. Then I will not be angry with the Israelites. The Levites will take care of the Holy Tent of the Agreement.”

⁵⁴ So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses.

The Camp Arrangement

2 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ² “The Israelites should make their camps around the Meeting Tent. But they should not camp too close to it. Each person should camp under the flag of his division near the banner of his family group.”

³ The camp of Judah will be on the east side, where the sun rises. They will camp by divisions there under their flag. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. ⁴ There are 74,600 men in his division.

⁵ Next to them the tribe of Issachar will camp. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar. ⁶ There are 54,400 men in his division.

⁷ Next is the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. ⁸ There are 57,400 men in his division.

⁹ There are a total of 186,400 men in the camp of Judah. They are in their divisions. They will be the first to march out of camp.

¹⁰ The divisions of the camp of Reuben will be south of the Holy Tent. They will camp under their flag. The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur. ¹¹ There are 46,500 men in his division.

¹² Next to them the tribe of Simeon will camp. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. ¹³ There are 59,300 men in his division.

¹⁴ Next is the tribe of Gad. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel. ¹⁵ There are 45,650 men in his division.

¹⁶ There are a total of 151,450 men in the camp of Reuben. They are in their divisions. They will be the second group to march out of camp.

¹⁷ When the Levites move the Meeting Tent, they will be in between the other camps. The tribes will move in the same order as they camp. Each person will be with his family flag.

¹⁸ The divisions of the camp of Ephraim will be on the west side. They will camp under their flag. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Ammihud. ¹⁹ There are 40,500 men in his division.

²⁰ Next to them the tribe of Manasseh will camp. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. ²¹ There are 32,200 men in his division.

²² Next to them the tribe of Benjamin will camp. The leader of the people of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni. ²³ There are 35,400 men in his division.

²⁴ There are a total of 108,100 men in the camp of Ephraim. They are in their divisions. They will be the third group to march out of camp.

²⁵ The divisions of the camp of Dan will be on the north side. They will camp under their flag. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶ There are 62,700 men in his division.

²⁷ Next to them the tribe of Asher will camp. The leader of the people of Asher is Pagiel son of Ocran. ²⁸ There are 41,500 men in his division.

²⁹ Next is the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the people of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan. ³⁰ There are 53,400 men in his division.

³¹ There are 157,600 men in the camp of Dan. They will be the last to march out of camp. They will travel under their own flag.

³² These are the Israelites who were counted by families. The total number of Israelites in the camps, counted by divisions, is 603,550. ³³ Moses did not count the Levites among the other people of Israel. This is what the Lord had commanded.

³⁴ So the Israelites obeyed everything the Lord commanded Moses. They camped under their flags. Each person traveled with his family and family group.

Aaron’s Family, the Priests

3 This is the family history of Aaron and Moses. This was at the time the Lord talked to Moses on Mount Sinai.

² Aaron had four sons. Nadab was the oldest. Then Aaron had Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ³ Those were the names of Aaron’s sons. They were appointed to serve as priests. ⁴ But Nadab and Abihu died when they sinned in the presence of the Lord. They made an offering to the Lord in the Desert of Sinai. But they used the wrong kind of fire. They had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi to Aaron the priest. They must help him. ⁷ They will help him and all the Israelites at the Meeting Tent. They will do the work of the Holy Tent. ⁸ The Levites must take care of everything in the Meeting Tent. They will serve the people of Israel by doing the work in the Holy Tent. ⁹ Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. Of all the Israelites, the Levites are given completely to him. ¹⁰ Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. Anyone else who comes near the holy things must be put to death.”

¹¹ The Lord also said to Moses, ¹² “I am choosing the Levites from all the Israelites. They will take the place of all the firstborn children of Israel. The Levites will be mine. ¹³ All the firstborn are mine. When you were in Egypt, I killed all the firstborn children of the Egyptians. I took all the firstborn of Israel to be mine. Firstborn animals and children are mine. I am the Lord.”

¹⁴ The Lord again talked to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. The Lord said, ¹⁵ “Count the Levites by families and family groups. Count every male one month old or older.” ¹⁶ So Moses obeyed the Lord and counted them all.

¹⁷ Levi had three sons. Their names were Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

¹⁸ The Gershonite family groups were Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹ The Kohathite family groups were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

²⁰ The Merarite family groups were Mahli and Mushi.

These were the family groups that belonged to the Levites.

²¹ The family groups of Libni and Shimei belonged to Gershon. They were all the Gershonite family groups. ²² They had 7,500 males one month or older. ²³ The Gershonite family groups camped on the west side, behind the Holy Tent. ²⁴ The leader of the families of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵ In the Meeting Tent the Gershonites were responsible for taking care of these things: the Holy Tent, its covering, the curtain at the entrance to the Meeting Tent, ²⁶ the curtains in the courtyard, the curtain at the entry to the courtyard around the Holy Tent and the altar, the ropes and all the work connected with these things.

²⁷ The family groups of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel belonged to Kohath. They were all the Kohathite family groups. ²⁸ They had 8,600 males one month old or older. They were responsible for taking care of the Holy Place. ²⁹ The Kohathite family groups camped south of the Holy Tent. ³⁰ The leader of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. ³¹ They were responsible for the Ark of the Covenant, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the tools of the holy place, the curtain and all the work connected with these things. ³² The main leader of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest. Eleazar was in charge of all those responsible for the Holy Place.

³³ The family groups of Mahli and Mushi belonged to Merari. They were all the Merarite family groups. ³⁴ They had 6,200 males one month old or older. ³⁵ The leader of the Merari families was Zuriel son of Abihail. They were to camp north of the Holy Tent. ³⁶ The Merarites were responsible for the frame of the Holy Tent, the braces, the posts, the bases and all the work connected with these things. ³⁷ They were also responsible for the posts in the courtyard around the Holy Tent and their bases, tent pegs and ropes.

³⁸ Moses, Aaron and his sons camped east of the Holy Tent. They were in front of the Meeting Tent. They were responsible for the Holy Place. They did this for the Israelites. Anyone else who came near the Holy Place was to be put to death.

³⁹ Moses and Aaron counted the Levite men. The Lord commanded this. There were 22,000 males one month old or older.

Levites Take the Place of the Firstborn Sons

⁴⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn sons in Israel one month old or older. List their names. ⁴¹ Take the Levites for me instead of the firstborn sons of Israel. Take the animals of the Levites instead of the firstborn animals from the rest of Israel. I am the Lord.”

⁴² So Moses did what the Lord commanded. Moses counted all the firstborn sons of the Israelites. ⁴³ He listed all the firstborn sons one month old or older. There were 22,273 names.

⁴⁴ The Lord also said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites. And take the animals of the Levites instead of the animals of the other people. The Levites are mine. I am the Lord. ⁴⁶ There are 273 more firstborn sons than Levites. ⁴⁷ So collect two ounces of silver for each of the 273 sons. Use the measure as set by the Holy Place. It weighs two-fifths of an ounce. ⁴⁸ Give the silver to Aaron and his sons. It is the payment for the 273 Israelites.”

⁴⁹ So Moses collected the money for the people the Levites could not replace. ⁵⁰ Moses collected the silver from the firstborn of the Israelites. He collected 35 pounds of silver, using the measure set by the Holy Place. ⁵¹ So Moses obeyed the Lord. He gave the silver to Aaron and his sons.

The Spies Explore Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send men to explore the land of Canaan. I will give that land to the Israelites. Send one leader from each tribe.”

³ So Moses obeyed the Lord’s command. He sent the Israelite leaders out from the Desert of Paran. ⁴ These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gamalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the new name Joshua.)

¹⁷ Moses sent them to explore Canaan. He said, “Go through southern Canaan and then into the mountains. ¹⁸ See what the land looks like. Are the people who live there strong or weak? Are there a few or many? ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What about the towns they live in—do they have walls, or are they open like camps? ²⁰ What about the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees there? Try to bring back some of the fruit from that land.” (It was the season for the first grapes.)

²¹ So they went up and explored the land. They went from the Desert of Zin all the way to Rehob by Lebo Hamath. ²² They went through the southern area to Hebron. That is where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai lived. They were the descendants of Anak. (The city of Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ In the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch of a grapevine. It had one bunch of grapes on it. They carried that branch on a pole between two of them. They also got some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ They call that place the Valley of Eshcol.^[a] That is because the Israelites cut off the bunch of grapes there. ²⁵ After 40 days of exploring the land, the men returned to the camp.

²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites at Kadesh. This was in the Desert of Paran. The men reported to them and showed everybody the fruit from the land. ²⁷ They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is a land where much food grows! Here is some of its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are strong. Their cities are walled and large. We even saw some Anakites there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the southern area. The Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the mountains. The Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan River.”

³⁰ Then Caleb told the people near Moses to be quiet. Caleb said, “We should go up and take the land for ourselves. We can do it.”

³¹ But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people. They are stronger than we are.” ³² And those men gave the Israelites a bad report about the land they explored. They said, “The land would eat us up. All the people we saw are very tall. ³³ We saw the Nephilim people there. (The Anakites come from the Nephilim people.) We felt like grasshoppers. And we looked like grasshoppers to them.”

The People Complain Again

14 That night all the people in the camp began crying loudly. ² All the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. All the people said to them, “We should have died in Egypt. Or we should have died in the desert. ³ Why is the Lord bringing us to this land? We will be killed with swords. Our wives and children will be taken away. We would be better off going back to Egypt.” ⁴ They said to each other, “Let’s get a leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron bowed facedown in front of all the Israelites gathered there. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among those who had explored the land. They tore their clothes. ⁷ They said to all of the Israelites, “The land we went to explore is very good. ⁸ If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land. He will give us that land where much food grows. ⁹ Don’t turn against the Lord! Don’t be afraid of the people in that land! We will chew them up. They have no protection, but we have the Lord. So don’t be afraid of them.”

¹⁰ Then all the people talked about killing them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the Meeting Tent to the Israelites. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people ignore me? How long will it be before they believe me? I have done miracles among them. ¹² I will give them a terrible sickness. I will destroy them. But I will make you into a great nation. It will be stronger than they are.”

¹³ Then Moses said to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it! You brought these people from there by your great power. ¹⁴ And the Egyptians will tell this to those who live in this land. They have already heard about you, Lord. They know that you are with your people. And they know you were seen face to face. They know your cloud stays over your people. They know you lead your people with that cloud during the day and with fire at night. ¹⁵ The nations have heard about your power. If you put to death your people all at once, the nations will talk. They will say, ¹⁶ ‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he promised them. So he killed them in the desert.’

¹⁷ “So show your strength now, my Lord. Do what you said. You said: ¹⁸ ‘The Lord doesn’t become angry quickly. The Lord has great love. The Lord forgives sin and law breaking. He has great mercy. But the Lord does not forget to punish guilty people. When parents sin, he will also punish their children. He will punish their grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.’ ¹⁹ Show your great love. Forgive these people’s sin. Forgive them as you have from the time they left Egypt until now.”

²⁰ The Lord answered, “I have forgiven them as you asked. ²¹ But, as surely as I live, I make this promise. As surely as my glory fills the whole earth, I make this promise. ²² All these men saw my glory. They saw the miracles I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they disobeyed me and tested me 10 times. ²³ So not one will see the land I promised to their ancestors. No one who angered me will see that land. ²⁴ But my servant Caleb has a different spirit. He follows me completely. So I will bring him into the land he has already seen. And his children will own that land. ²⁵ The Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys. So leave tomorrow and go back. Follow the desert road toward the Gulf of Aqaba.”

The Lord Punishes the People

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁷ “How long will these evil people complain about me? I have heard these Israelites’ grumbling and complaining. ²⁸ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says. I heard what you said. As surely as I live, I will do those things to you. ²⁹ You will die in this desert. Every one of you who is 20 years old or older and who was counted with the people will die. You complained against me, the Lord. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter and live in the land I promised to you. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will go in. ³¹ You said that your children would be taken away. But I will bring them into the land. They will enjoy what you refused. ³² As for you, you will die in this desert. ³³ Your children will be shepherds here for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not loyal. They will suffer until you lie dead in the desert. ³⁴ For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. That is a year for each of the 40 days you explored the land. You will know me as your enemy.’ ³⁵ I, the Lord, have spoken. I will certainly do these things to all these evil people. They have come together against me. So they will all die here in this desert.”

³⁶ The men Moses had sent to explore the land had returned. They had spread complaints among all the Israelites. They had given a bad report about the land. ³⁷ They were responsible for the bad report. So the Lord killed them with a terrible sickness. ³⁸ Only two of the men did not die. They were Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh.

³⁹ When Moses told these things to the Israelites, they were very sad. ⁴⁰ Early the next morning they started to go toward the beginning of the mountains. They said, “We have sinned. We will go where the Lord told us.”

⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? You will not win! ⁴² Don’t go. The Lord is not with you. You will be beaten by your enemies. ⁴³ You will run into the Amalekites and Canaanites. They will kill you with swords. You have turned away from the Lord. He will not be with you.”

⁴⁴ But they were proud. They went toward the beginning of the mountains. But Moses and the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord did not leave the camp. ⁴⁵ The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those mountains came down. And they attacked the Israelites. They beat them back all the way to Hormah.