Numbers 10

1 Then the LORD said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out.

Make thee two trumpets of beaten silver, wherewith thou mayest call together the multitude when the camp is to be removed.

3 When both are sounded, the whole congregation is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

And when thou shalt sound the trumpets, all the multitude shall gather unto thee to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant.

4 But if only one is sounded, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, are to gather before you.

If thou sound but once, the princes and the heads of the multitude of Israel shall come to thee.

5 When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out.

But if the sound of the trumpets be longer, and with interruptions, they that are on the east side, shall first go forward.

6 When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out.

And at the second sounding and like noise of the trumpet, they who lie on the south side shall take up their tents. And after this manner shall the rest do, when the trumpets shall sound for a march.

7 To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones.

But when the people is to be gathered together, the sound of the trumpets shall be plain, and they shall not make a broken sound.

8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. This shall be a permanent statute for you and the generations to come.

And the sons of Aaron the priest shall sound the trumpets: and this shall be an ordinance for ever in your generations.

9 When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies.

If you go forth to war out of your land against the enemies that fight against you, you shall sound aloud with the trumpets, and there shall be a remembrance of you before the Lord your God, that you may be delivered out of the hands of your enemies.

10 And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

If at any time you shall have a banquet, and on your festival days, and on the first days of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over the holocausts, and the sacrifices of peace offerings, that they may be to you for a remembrance of your God. I am the Lord your God.

11 On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony,

The second year, in the second month, the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the covenant.

12 and the Israelites set out from the Wilderness of Sinai, traveling from place to place until the cloud settled in the Wilderness of Paran.

And the children of Israel marched by their troops from the desert of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Pharan.

13 They set out this first time according to the LORD’s command through Moses.

And the first went forward according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

14 First, the divisions of the camp of Judah set out under their standard, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command.

The sons of Juda by their troops: whose prince was Nahasson the son of Aminadab.

15 Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar,

In the tribe of the sons of Issachar, the prince was Nathanael the son of Suar.

16 and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun.

In the tribe of Zabulon, the prince was Eliab the son of Helon.

17 Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.

And the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gerson and Merari set forward, bearing it.

18 Then the divisions of the camp of Reuben set out under their standard, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command.

And the sons of Ruben also marched, by their troops and ranks, whose prince was Helisur the son of Sedeur.

19 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon,

And in the tribe of Simeon, the prince was Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.

20 and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad.

And in the tribe of Cad, the prince was Eliasaph the son of Duel.

21 Then the Kohathites set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.

Then the Caathites also marched carrying the sanctuary. So long was the tabernacle carried, till they same to the place of setting it up.

22 Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command.

The sons of Ephraim also moved their camp by their troops, in whose army the prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud.

23 Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh,

And in the tribe of the sons of Manasses, the prince was Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.

24 and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.

And in the tribe of Benjamin, the prince was Abidan the son of Gedeon.

25 Finally, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out under their standard, serving as the rear guard for all units, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command.

The last of all the camp marched the sons of Dan by their troops, in whose army the prince was Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.

26 Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher,

And in the tribe of the sons of Aser, the prince was Phegiel the son of Ochran.

27 and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali.

And in the tribe of the sons of Nephtali, the prince was Ahira the son of Enan.

28 This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out.

This was the order of the camps, and marches of the children of Israel by their troops, when they set forward.

29 Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.”

And Moses said to Hobab the son of Raguel the Madianite, his kinsman: We are going towards the place which the Lord will give us: come with us, that we may do thee good: for the Lord hath promised good things to Israel.

30 “I will not go,” Hobab replied. “Instead, I am going back to my own land and my own people.”

But he answered him: I will not go with thee, but I will return to my country, wherein I was born.

31 “Please do not leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes.

And he said: Do not leave us: for thou knowest in what places we should encamp in the wilderness, and thou shalt be our guide.

32 If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.”

And if thou comest with us, we will give thee what is the best of the riches which the Lord shall deliver to us.

33 So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

So they marched from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, for three days providing a place for the camp.

34 And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

The cloud also of the Lord was over them by day when they marched.

35 Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, “Rise up, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered; may those who hate You flee before You.”

And when the ark was lifted up, Moses said: Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee, flee from before thy face.

36 And when it came to rest, he would say: “Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.”

And when it was set down, he said: Return, O Lord, to the multitude of the host of Israel.