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:

“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.

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.

These were the men appointed from the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the clans of Israel.

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.

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

All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families.

“You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites.

The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard.

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.”

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

“The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.”

These are the Israelites, counted according to their families. All the men in the camps, by their divisions, number 603,550.

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.

They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle.

Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to him.

“I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine,

for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am 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 Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more and make a list of their names.

Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites. I am the Lord.”

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

“Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am the Lord.

To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites,