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Yahweh[a] 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, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one, from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their divisions. With you there shall be a man of every tribe, each one head of his fathers’ house. These are the names of the men who shall stand with you:

Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur.

Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

Of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar.

Of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon.

10 Of the children 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 Deuel.

15 Of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan.”

16 These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes[b] of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel. 17 Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name. 18 They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one. 19 As Yahweh commanded Moses, so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 The children of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 21 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred.

22 Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, those who were counted of it, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 23 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

24 Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 25 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.

26 Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 27 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Judah, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

28 Of the children of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 29 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

30 Of the children of Zebulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 31 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

32 Of the children of Joseph: of the children of Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 33 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand five hundred.

34 Of the children of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 35 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

36 Of the children of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 37 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

38 Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 39 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

40 Of the children of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 41 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty-one thousand five hundred.

42 Of the children of Naphtali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 43 those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

44 These are those who were counted, whom Moses and Aaron counted, and the twelve men who were princes of Israel, each one for his fathers’ house. 45 So all those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war in Israel— 46 all those who were counted were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:1 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.
  2. 1:16 or, chiefs, or, leaders

Registration of Israel’s Troops

A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle[a] in the wilderness of Sinai. On the first day of the second month[b] of that year he said, “From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron must register the troops, and you will be assisted by one family leader from each tribe.

“These are the tribes and the names of the leaders who will assist you:

TribeLeader
ReubenElizur son of Shedeur
SimeonShelumiel son of Zurishaddai
JudahNahshon son of Amminadab
IssacharNethanel son of Zuar
ZebulunEliab son of Helon
10 Ephraim son of JosephElishama son of Ammihud
Manasseh son of JosephGamaliel son of Pedahzur
11 BenjaminAbidan son of Gideoni
12 DanAhiezer son of Ammishaddai
13 AsherPagiel son of Ocran
14 GadEliasaph son of Deuel
15 NaphtaliAhira son of Enan

16 These are the chosen leaders of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.”

17 So Moses and Aaron called together these chosen leaders, 18 and they assembled the whole community of Israel on that very day.[c] All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel who were twenty years old or older were listed one by one, 19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. So Moses recorded their names in the wilderness of Sinai.

20-21 This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, as their names were listed in the records of their clans and families[d]:

TribeNumber
Reuben (Jacob’s[e] oldest son)46,500
22-23 Simeon59,300
24-25 Gad45,650
26-27 Judah74,600
28-29 Issachar54,400
30-31 Zebulun57,400
32-33 Ephraim son of Joseph40,500
34-35 Manasseh son of Joseph32,200
36-37 Benjamin35,400
38-39 Dan62,700
40-41 Asher41,500
42-43 Naphtali53,400

44 These were the men registered by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, all listed according to their ancestral descent. 45 They were registered by families—all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older and able to go to war. 46 The total number was 603,550.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:1a Hebrew the Tent of Meeting.
  2. 1:1b This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in April or May.
  3. 1:18 Hebrew on the first day of the second month; see 1:1.
  4. 1:20-21a In the Hebrew text, this sentence (This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, as their names were listed in the records of their clans and families) is repeated in 1:22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42.
  5. 1:20-21b Hebrew Israel’s. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.