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:

Moses and Aaron took these men whose names had been specified,

as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai:

These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family.

The Lord had said to Moses:

The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Arrangement of the Tribal Camps

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

The Levites, however, were not counted along with the other Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.

So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.

The Levites

This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.

The Lord said to Moses,

The Lord also said to Moses,

The Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai,

So Moses counted them, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, in front of the tent of meeting. They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary on behalf of the Israelites. Anyone else who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.

The total number of Levites counted at the Lord’s command by Moses and Aaron according to their clans, including every male a month old or more, was 22,000.

The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more and make a list of their names.

So Moses counted all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him.

The Lord also said to Moses,

So Moses collected the redemption money from those who exceeded the number redeemed by the Levites.

Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

The Kohathites

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

The Gershonites

The Lord said to Moses,

The Numbering of the Levite Clans

Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the Kohathites by their clans and families.