The Second Census

26 ^(A)After the epidemic the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, ² “Take a census by families of the whole community of Israel, of all men twenty years old or older who are fit for military service.” ^3-4 Moses and Eleazar obeyed and called together all the men of that age group. They assembled in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.

These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

⁵ The tribe of Reuben (Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob): the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, ⁶ Hezron, and Carmi. ⁷ These clans numbered 43,730 men. ⁸ The descendants of Pallu were Eliab ⁹ and his sons Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. (These are the Dathan and Abiram who were chosen by the community. They defied Moses and Aaron and joined the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord. ¹⁰ The ground opened and swallowed them, and they died with Korah and his followers when fire destroyed 250 men; they became a warning to the people. ¹¹ But the sons of Korah were not killed.)

¹² The tribe of Simeon: the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, ¹³ Zerah, and Shaul. ¹⁴ These clans numbered 22,200 men.

¹⁵ The tribe of Gad: the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, ¹⁶ Ozni, Eri, ¹⁷ Arod, and Areli. ¹⁸ These clans numbered 40,500 men.

^19-21 The tribe of Judah: the clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. (Two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan, had died in the land of Canaan.) ²² These clans numbered 76,500 men.

²³ The tribe of Issachar: the clans of Tola, Puah, ²⁴ Jashub, and Shimron. ²⁵ These clans numbered 64,300 men.

²⁶ The tribe of Zebulun: the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ²⁷ These clans numbered 60,500 men.

²⁸ The tribes of Joseph, who was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

²⁹ The tribe of Manasseh. Machir son of Manasseh was the father of Gilead, and the following clans traced their ancestry to Gilead: ³⁰ the clans of Iezer, Helek, ³¹ Asriel, Shechem, ³² Shemida, and Hepher. ³³ Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ³⁴ These clans numbered 52,700 men.

³⁵ The tribe of Ephraim: the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan. ³⁶ The clan of Eran traced its descent from Shuthelah. ³⁷ These clans numbered 32,500 men.

These are the clans descended from Joseph.

³⁸ The tribe of Benjamin: the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, ³⁹ Shephupham, and Hupham. ⁴⁰ The clans of Ard and Naaman traced their descent from Bela. ⁴¹ These clans numbered 45,600 men.

⁴² The tribe of Dan: the clan of Shuham, ⁴³ which numbered 64,400 men.

⁴⁴ The tribe of Asher: the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah. ⁴⁵ The clans of Heber and Malchiel traced their descent from Beriah. ⁴⁶ Asher had a daughter named Serah. ⁴⁷ These clans numbered 53,400 men.

⁴⁸ The tribe of Naphtali: the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, ⁴⁹ Jezer, and Shillem. ⁵⁰ These clans numbered 45,400 men.

⁵¹ The total number of the Israelite men was 601,730.

^52 (B)The Lord said to Moses, ⁵³ “Divide the land among the tribes, according to their size. ^54-56 Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe.”

⁵⁷ The tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ⁵⁸ Their descendants included the subclans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram, ⁵⁹ who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam. ^60 (C)Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^61 (D)Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire to the Lord. ⁶² The male Levites who were one month old or older numbered 23,000. They were listed separately from the rest of the Israelites, because they were not given any property in Israel.

⁶³ All these clans were listed by Moses and Eleazar when they took a census of the Israelites in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. ⁶⁴ There was not even one man left among those whom Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in the Sinai Desert. ^65 (E)The Lord had said that all of them would die in the wilderness, and except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they all did.

A Cry for Help^[a]

Moab's Hopeless Situation

16 From the city of Sela in the desert the people of Moab send a lamb as a present to the one who rules in Jerusalem. ² They wait on the banks of the Arnon River and move aimlessly back and forth, like birds driven from their nest.

³ They say to the people of Judah, “Tell us what to do. Protect us like a tree that casts a cool shadow in the heat of noon, and let us rest in your shade. We are refugees; hide us where no one can find us. ⁴ Let us stay in your land. Protect us from those who want to destroy us.”

(Oppression and destruction will end, and those who are devastating the country will be gone. ⁵ Then one of David's descendants will be king, and he will rule the people with faithfulness and love. He will be quick to do what is right, and he will see that justice is done.)

⁶ The people of Judah say, “We have heard how proud the people of Moab are. We know that they are arrogant and conceited, but their boasts are empty.”

⁷ The people of Moab will weep because of the troubles they suffer. They will all weep when they remember the fine food they used to eat in the city of Kir Heres. They will be driven to despair. ⁸ The farms near Heshbon and the vineyards of Sibmah are destroyed—those vineyards whose wine used to make the rulers of the nations drunk. At one time the vines spread as far as the city of Jazer, and eastward into the desert, and westward to the other side of the Dead Sea. ⁹ Now I weep for Sibmah's vines as I weep for Jazer. My tears fall for Heshbon and Elealeh, because there is no harvest to make the people glad. ¹⁰ No one is happy now in the fertile fields. No one shouts or sings in the vineyards. No one tramples grapes to make wine; the shouts of joy are ended.^{[a] 11} I groan with sadness for Moab, with grief for Kir Heres. ¹² The people of Moab wear themselves out going to their mountain shrines and to their temples to pray, but it will do them no good.

¹³ That is the message the Lord gave earlier about Moab. ¹⁴ And now the Lord says, “In exactly three years Moab's great wealth will disappear. Of its many people, only a few will survive, and they will be weak.”

Changed Lives

4 Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin. ² From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires. ³ You have spent enough time in the past doing what the heathen like to do. Your lives were spent in indecency, lust, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and the disgusting worship of idols. ⁴ And now the heathen are surprised when you do not join them in the same wild and reckless living, and so they insult you. ⁵ But they will have to give an account of themselves to God, who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ That is why the Good News was preached also to the dead, to those who had been judged in their physical existence as everyone is judged; it was preached to them so that in their spiritual existence they may live as God lives.

Good Managers of God's Gifts

⁷ The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray. ^8 (A)Above everything, love one another earnestly, because love covers over many sins. ⁹ Open your homes to each other without complaining. ¹⁰ Each one, as a good manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God. ¹¹ Those who preach must preach God's messages; those who serve must serve with the strength that God gives them, so that in all things praise may be given to God through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

Suffering as a Christian

¹² My dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful test you are suffering, as though something unusual were happening to you. ¹³ Rather be glad that you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ Happy are you if you are insulted because you are Christ's followers; this means that the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God, is resting on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it must not be because you are a murderer or a thief or a criminal or a meddler in other people's affairs. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer because you are a Christian, don't be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ's name.

¹⁷ The time has come for judgment to begin, and God's own people are the first to be judged. If it starts with us, how will it end with those who do not believe the Good News from God? ^18 (B)As the scripture says,

¹⁹ So then, those who suffer because it is God's will for them, should by their good actions trust themselves completely to their Creator, who always keeps his promise.