Numbers 26
The Voice
26 After the deaths of so many Israelites from the plague, the Eternal commissioned another census through Moses and Eleazar (Priest Aaron’s son).
Eternal One: 2 Add up exactly how many Israelites there are, those who are 20 years and older who are able to go to war. Identify them by their extended families.
3 So Moses and Priest Eleazar got everyone together in the Moabite flatlands next to the Jordan River, east of Jericho.
Moses and Eleazar: 4 Add up the people 20 years old and older, just as the Eternal One commanded Moses.
This is the record of the twelve Israelite families, the clans within them (according to the names of their founders) who actually enter the land.
The total number of the Israelites who had left Egypt were:
5-9 From Reuben (the eldest of Israel’s twelve sons)—the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; the clans of Reuben number 43,730. Within this extended family, Pallu had Eliab, who had three sons—Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Those last two are the same Dathan and Abiram, who (along with Korah) led that revolt against Moses and Aaron and the Eternal One. 10 They are the ones who (along with Korah) were swallowed up by the earth when so many people died and 250 were burned to death, too, as a future warning to the people. 11 (Korah’s sons were not killed in that episode, however.)
12-14 From Simeon—the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, Zerah, and Shaul; the clans of Simeon number 22,200.
15-18 From Gad—the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ozni, Eri, Arod, and Areli; the clans of Gad number 40,500.
19-22 From Judah (remember that Judah also had Er and Onan, the sons who died in Canaan)[a]—the clans of Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. Within this extended family, Perez had Hezron and Hamul; the clans of Judah number 76,500.
23-25 From Issachar—the clans of Tola, Puvah (they’re called Punites), Jashub, and Shimron; the clans of Issachar number 64,300.
26-27 From Zebulun—the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel; the clans of Zebulun number 60,500.
28 From Joseph—the clans of Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 Within this extended family, Manasseh had Machir, who generated his own clan and fathered Gilead, who also generated a clan. 30-32 Gilead’s descendants also became clans—Iezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, and Hepher. 33 (Hepher is the one whose son, Zelophehad, didn’t himself have any sons. His daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.)[b] 34 The clans of Manasseh number 52,700. 35-37 Also within Joseph’s extended family, Ephraim had Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan. From Shuthelah came the clan of Eranites. The clans of Ephraim number 32,500. So the total number from Joseph’s descendants, Manasseh plus Ephraim and counted by clans, was 85,200.
38-41 From Benjamin—the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shephupham, and Hupham. Bela had two sons, Ard and Naaman, each of which became a clan; the clans of Benjamin number 45,600.
42-43 From Dan—the clans of Shuham; the clans of Dan number 64,400.
44-47 From Asher—the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Beriah gave rise also to the clans of Heber and Malchiel. Asher’s daughter was Serah. The clans of Asher number 53,400.
48-50 From Naphtali—the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem; the clans of Naphtali number 45,400.
51 The grand total of Israelites organized was 601,730.
52 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
God has promised the children of Abraham from the very beginning until this day that they will inherit this land. Now it is time.
Eternal One: 53 The land shall be divided up following the number of ancestral families—twelve. 54 If one clan has a lot of people in it, then it should receive a large amount of land; if the clan is small, then assign it a smaller plot. Every extended family will be allotted land in proportion to its size, and that particular land will be considered its inheritance. 55 Nevertheless, the assignments will be based on lots, and the assigned land will be inherited only within the clan. 56 Among the large and small clans, property will be divided by lots.
In this system, Levi is an exception. Because of their priestly status, they don’t serve in the military and don’t get a portion of land.
57 So the Levites were listed according to their clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 58 The clans of Levi include Libnites, Hebronites, Mahlites, Mushites, and Korahites. 59 For the record, when Levi was still in Egypt, he had a daughter, Jochebed. She married Amram, the son of Kohath. Jochebed bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam. 60 Aaron fathered Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died when they presumed to offer a strange fire to the Eternal One. 62 The total number of Levite men, one month and older, was 23,000. They were not counted along with the rest of the people of Israel since they did not have a land inheritance.
63 These are the people and their numbers that Moses and his nephew, Eleazar the priest, organized into armies when they stood on the plains of Moab, just across the Jordan River, east of Jericho. 64 Not a single one of the people organized this time by Moses and Priest Aaron were among those so many years ago, when they added up the Israelites in the Sinai Wilderness. 65 The Eternal One had declared that the previous generation had to die in the wilderness. No one was remaining from that generation except for Caleb (Jephunneh’s son) and Joshua (Nun’s son).
Footnotes
Numbers 26
Modern English Version
The Second Census
26 After the plague, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, 2 “Take the count of all the assembly of the children of Israel from twenty years old and older, throughout their fathers’ houses, all that are able to go to war in Israel.” 3 Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 4 “Take the count of the people from twenty years old and older,” as the Lord commanded Moses.
The children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt, were these:
5 Reuben, the oldest son of Israel. The children of Reuben:
of Hanok, from whom comes the family of the Hanokites;
of Pallu, the family of the Palluites;
6 of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites;
of Karmi, the family of the Karmites.
7 These are the families of the Reubenites: those who were counted were forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.
8 The son of Pallu was Eliab. 9 The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, called out from the assembly, who argued against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah when they argued against the Lord. 10 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with Korah when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. 11 But the children of Korah did not die.
12 The sons of Simeon by their families were:
of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites;
of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites;
of Jakin, the family of the Jakinites;
13 of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites;
of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.
14 These are the families of the Simeonites: twenty-two thousand two hundred.
15 The children of Gad by their families were:
of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites;
of Haggi, the family of the Haggites;
of Shuni, the family of the Shunites;
16 of Ozni, the family of the Oznites;
of Eri, the family of the Erites;
17 of Arodi, the family of the Arodites;
of Areli, the family of the Arelites.
18 These are the families of the children of Gad according to those by their count: forty thousand five hundred.
19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
20 The sons of Judah after their families were:
of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites;
of Perez, the family of the Perezites;
of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.
21 The sons of Perez were:
of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites;
of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.
22 These are the families of Judah by their count: seventy-six thousand five hundred.
23 The sons of Issachar by their families were:
of Tola, the family of the Tolaites;
of Puah, the family of the Puites;
24 of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites;
of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.
25 These are the families of Issachar by their count: sixty-four thousand three hundred.
26 The sons of Zebulun by their families were:
of Sered, the family of the Seredites;
of Elon, the family of the Elonites;
of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.
27 These are the families of the Zebulunites by their count: sixty thousand five hundred.
28 The sons of Joseph according to their families, by Manasseh and Ephraim, were:
29 The sons of Manasseh:
of Makir, the family of the Makirites, and Makir begot Gilead;
of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.
30 These are the sons of Gilead:
of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites;
of Helek, the family of the Helekites;
31 and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites;
and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites;
32 and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites;
and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.
33 Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.
34 These are the families of Manasseh, and those who were numbered of them were fifty-two thousand seven hundred.
35 These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families:
of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites;
of Beker, the family of the Bekerites;
of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.
36 These are the sons of Shuthelah:
of Eran, the family of the Eranites.
37 These are the families of the sons of Ephraim by their count: thirty-two thousand five hundred.
These are the sons of Joseph by their families.
38 The sons of Benjamin by their families were:
of Bela, the family of the Belaites;
of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites;
of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites;
39 of Shupham, the family of the Shuphamites;
of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.
40 The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman:
of Ard, the family of the Ardites;
and of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.
41 These are the sons of Benjamin by their families, and by their count: forty-five thousand six hundred.
42 These are the sons of Dan according to their families:
of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites.
These are the families of Dan after their families. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites, by their count, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.
44 The sons of Asher by their families were:
of Imnah, the family of the Imnites;
of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites;
of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.
45 of the sons of Beriah were:
of Heber, the family of the Heberites;
of Malkiel, the family of the Malkielites.
46 The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.
47 These are the families of the sons of Asher by their count: fifty-three thousand four hundred.
48 Of the sons of Naphtali by their families were:
of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites;
of Guni, the family of the Gunites;
49 of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites;
of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.
50 These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand four hundred.
51 These were the counted of the children of Israel: six hundred and one thousand, seven hundred and thirty.
52 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 53 To these the land will be divided for an inheritance by the number of names. 54 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. To each one his inheritance will be given according to those who were numbered of him. 55 But the land will be divided by lot. By the names of the tribes of their fathers they will inherit. 56 According to the lot his possession will be divided between large and small.
57 These are those counted of the Levites by their families:
of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites;
of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites;
of Merari, the family of the Merarites.
58 These are the families of the Levites:
the family of the Libnites,
the family of the Hebronites,
the family of the Mahlites,
the family of the Mushites,
the family of the Korahites.
And Kohath begot Amram. 59 And the name of the wife of Amram was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bore to Levi in Egypt, and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister. 60 To Aaron was born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died when they offered foreign fire before the Lord.
62 Those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, each male from a month old and older; for they were not counted among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.
63 These were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. 64 But among these there was not a man counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Sinai 65 because the Lord had said of them, “They will surely die in the wilderness.” And there was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.