A Census of Israel's Warriors

The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, 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,

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. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.

All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. They shall set out first on the march.

All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. They shall set out second.

“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They shall set out third on the march.

All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers' house.

And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death.

When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

“Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.

You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”

And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.

And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand and shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar.

or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law.

And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration,

The Passover Celebrated

And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped.

At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.

Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out.

Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out.

And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out.

Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out.

At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.

When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out.

And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out.

and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.

They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses.

The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies, and over their company was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out.

And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was Elizur the son of Shedeur.

Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.

And the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was Elishama the son of Ammihud.

Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out.

And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.”

So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.”

The People Complain

And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.

Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down.

but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent.

Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.

And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.

Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb.”

But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.”

So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.

After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country,

So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.

Report of the Spies

At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.

So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes

and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’

And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land—

Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp.

And the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”

And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?

Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”

So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

“Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy.

So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar,

to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the Lord said to him through Moses.

And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun.”

Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff.

They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you.

And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’

And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him.

And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering.

And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”

Moses Strikes the Rock

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.”

But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force.

The Bronze Serpent

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.

And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

The Song of the Well

And the people of Israel set out and camped in Oboth.

And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.

From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered.

From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.

For fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab, and swallowed the heights of the Arnon.

And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

Balak Summons Balaam

Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.

‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”

And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road.

And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me.

When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border.

God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

“Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward,” as the Lord commanded Moses. The people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were:

who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”

And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.”

Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord.

If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

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 the Lord will forgive her.

So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.

And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks.

And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.”

And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep,

‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me,

and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Recounting Israel's Journey

These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians,

So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.

And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.

And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.

And they set out from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin.

And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.

And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.

And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.

And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.

And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah.

And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.

And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.

And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

And they set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.

And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh).

And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.

And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.

And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab.

And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad.

And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.

And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho;

Drive Out the Inhabitants

And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.

The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.

And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died,

and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.