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The Census
The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said:
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“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.
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You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army.
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from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;
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These were the men appointed from the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the clans of Israel.
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as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai:
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From the descendants of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Simeon: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were counted and listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Gad: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Judah: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Issachar: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Zebulun: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the sons of Joseph: From the descendants of Ephraim: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Manasseh: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Benjamin: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Dan: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Asher: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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From the descendants of Naphtali: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
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These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family.
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All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families.
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“You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites.
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Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death.
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The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard.
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The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.”
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The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses.
