My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

A Census of Israel's Warriors

1 The Lord spoke to Moses ^(A)in the wilderness of Sinai, ^(B)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, ^2 (C)“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, ^(D)by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. ^3 (E)From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, ^(F)company by company. ⁴ And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. ⁵ And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, ^(G)Elizur the son of Shedeur; ⁶ from Simeon, ^(H)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷ from Judah, ^(I)Nahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸ from Issachar, ^(J)Nethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹ from Zebulun, ^(K)Eliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰ from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, ^(L)Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, ^(M)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹ from Benjamin, ^(N)Abidan the son of Gideoni; ¹² from Dan, ^(O)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³ from Asher, ^(P)Pagiel the son of Ochran; ¹⁴ from Gad, Eliasaph the son of ^(Q)Deuel; ¹⁵ from Naphtali, ^(R)Ahira the son of Enan.” ¹⁶ These were the ones ^(S)chosen from the congregation, ^(T)the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men ^(U)who had been named, ¹⁸ and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, ¹⁹ as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰ The people of ^(V)Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²¹ those listed of the tribe of Reuben were ^(W)46,500.

²² Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²³ those listed of the tribe of Simeon were ^(X)59,300.

²⁴ Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²⁵ those listed of the tribe of Gad were ^(Y)45,650.

²⁶ Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ²⁷ those listed of the tribe of Judah were ^(Z)74,600.

²⁸ Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ²⁹ those listed of the tribe of Issachar were ^(AA)54,400.

³⁰ Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³¹ those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were ^(AB)57,400.

³² Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³³ those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were ^(AC)40,500.

³⁴ Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁵ those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were ^(AD)32,200.

³⁶ Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁷ those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were ^(AE)35,400.

³⁸ Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ³⁹ those listed of the tribe of Dan were ^(AF)62,700.

⁴⁰ Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ⁴¹ those listed of the tribe of Asher were ^(AG)41,500.

⁴² Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: ⁴³ those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were ^(AH)53,400.

^44 (AI)These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house. ⁴⁵ So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— ⁴⁶ all those listed were ^(AJ)603,550.

Levites Exempted

⁴⁷ But ^(AK)the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸ For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. ^50 (AL)But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it ^(AM)and shall camp around the tabernacle. ^51 (AN)When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. ^(AO)And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. ⁵² The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and ^(AP)each man by his own standard. ⁵³ But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no ^(AQ)wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. ^(AR)And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴ Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

Men and Vows

30 Moses spoke to ^(A)the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. ^2 (B)If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or ^(C)swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. ^(D)He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Women and Vows

³ “If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house in her youth, ⁴ and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

⁶ “If she marries a husband, while under her ^(E)vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her ^(F)vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. ^(G)And the Lord will forgive her. ⁹ (But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.) ¹⁰ And if she vowed in her husband's house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and ^(H)the Lord will forgive her. ¹³ Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself,^[a] her husband may establish,^[b] or her husband may make void. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. ¹⁵ But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then ^(I)he shall bear her iniquity.”

¹⁶ These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father's house.

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

8 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, ^(A)one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² a minister in the holy places, in ^(B)the true tent^[a] that the Lord ^(C)set up, not man. ³ For ^(D)every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus ^(E)it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. ⁴ Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. ⁵ They serve ^(F)a copy and ^(G)shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ^(H)“See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But as it is, Christ^[b] has obtained a ministry that is ^(I)as much more excellent than the old as ^(J)the covenant ^(K)he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. ^7 (L)For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

⁸ For he finds fault with them when he says:^[c]

¹³ In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And ^(R)what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.