Numbers 1

1 And the Lord said to Moses in the waste land of Sinai, in the Tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt,

In April of the year after the Israeli people left Egypt, Yahweh spoke to Moses/me while he/I was in the Sacred Tent, in the Sinai Desert. Yahweh said to him/me,

2 Take the full number of the children of Israel, by their families, and by their fathers' houses, every male by name;

“I want you and Aaron to determine how many Israeli men are able to fight in battles. Write down the names of all the men who are at least 20 years old, and write down the names of their clans and families.

3 All those of twenty years old and over, who are able to go to war in Israel, are to be numbered by you and Aaron.

4 And to give you help, take one man from every tribe, the head of his father's house.

[I have chosen] one man from each of the tribes to help you to do this. Each one will be a leader of his clan.

5 These are the names of those who are to be your helpers: from Reuben, Elizur, the son of Shedeur;

Their names are: Elizur, the son of Shedeur, from the tribe of Reuben; Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, from the tribe of Simeon; Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah; Nethanel, the son of Zuar, from the tribe of Issachar; Eliab, the son of Helon, from the tribe of Zebulun; Elishama, the son of Ammihud, from the tribe of Joseph’s son Ephraim; Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, from the tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh; Abidan, the son of Gideoni, from the tribe of Benjamin; Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, from the tribe of Dan; Pagiel, the son of Ocran, from the tribe of Asher; Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, from the tribe of Gad; Ahira, the son of Enan, from the tribe of Naphtali.”

6 From Simeon, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai;

7 From Judah, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab;

8 From Issachar, Nethanel, the son of Zuar;

9 From Zebulun, Eliab, the son of Helon;

10 Of the children of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama, the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur,

11 From Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gideoni;

12 From Dan, Ahiezer, the son of Ammi-shaddai;

13 From Asher, Pagiel, the son of Ochran;

14 From Gad, Eliasaph, the son of Reuel;

15 From Naphtali, Ahira, the son of Enan.

16 These are the men named out of all the people, chiefs of their fathers' houses, heads of the tribes of Israel.

Those were the men whom Yahweh chose from the people. They were leaders of their tribes. They were the chief men of the clans of the Israeli people.

17 And Moses and Aaron took these men, marked out by name;

Aaron and Moses/I summoned all these leaders,

18 And they got together all the people on the first day of the second month; and everyone made clear his family and his father's house, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and over.

and they gathered all of the people together on that same day. They listed/wrote down the names of all the men who were at least 20 years old, and with their names they wrote the names of their clans and their family groups

19 As the Lord had given orders to Moses, so they were numbered by him in the waste place of Sinai.

just as Moses/I had commanded. They wrote the names while (the Israelis/we) were there in the Sinai Desert.

20 The generations of the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over, who was able to go to war;

This is a list of the number of men who were at least 20 years old and able to fight in battles, and the names of their tribes: There were 46,500 men from the tribe of Reuben (who was Jacob’s oldest son); there were 59,300 men from the tribe of Simeon; there were 45,560 men from the tribe of Gad; there were 74,600 men from the tribe of Judah; there were 54,400 men from the tribe of Issachar; there were 57,400 men from the tribe of Zebulun; there were 40,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim; there were 32,200 men from the tribe of Manasseh; there were 35,400 men from the tribe of Benjamin; there were 62,700 men from the tribe of Dan; there were 41,500 men from the tribe of Asher; there were 53,400 men from the tribe of Naphtali.

21 Forty-six thousand, five hundred of the tribe of Reuben were numbered.

22 The generations of the sons of Simeon were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over, who was able to go to war;

23 Fifty-nine thousand, three hundred of the tribe of Simeon were numbered.

24 The generations of the sons of Gad were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

25 Forty-five thousand, six hundred and fifty of the tribe of Gad were numbered.

26 The generations of the sons of Judah were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

27 Seventy-four thousand, six hundred of the tribe of Judah were numbered.

28 The generations of the sons of Issachar were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

29 Fifty-four thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Issachar were numbered.

30 The generations of the sons of Zebulun were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

31 Fifty-seven thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Zebulun were numbered.

32 The generations of the sons of Joseph were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

33 Forty thousand, five hundred of the tribe of Ephraim were numbered.

34 The generations of the sons of Manasseh were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

35 Thirty-two thousand, two hundred of the tribe of Manasseh were numbered.

36 The generations of the sons of Benjamin were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

37 Thirty-five thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Benjamin were numbered.

38 The generations of the sons of Dan were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years and over who was able to go to war;

39 Sixty-two thousand, seven hundred of the tribe of Dan were numbered.

40 The generations of the sons of Asher were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

41 Forty-one thousand, five hundred of the tribe of Asher were numbered.

42 The generations of the sons of Naphtali were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

43 Fifty-three thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Naphtali were numbered.

44 These are they who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and by the twelve chiefs of Israel, one from every tribe.

That was the number of men from each tribe that Aaron and Moses/I and the twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel listed, along with the names of their clans.

45 So all those who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their families, all those of twenty years old and over who were able to go to war,

46 Were six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty.

The total was 603,550 men.

47 But the Levites, of the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them.

But this number did not include the names of the men of the tribe of Levi,

48 For the Lord said to Moses,

because Yahweh had said to Moses/me,

49 Only the tribe of Levi is not to be numbered among the children of Israel,

“When you (count/write the names of) the men of the tribes of Israel, do not count the men in the tribe of Levi.

50 But to them you are to give the care of the Tent of meeting with its vessels and everything in it: they are to take up the Tent, and be responsible for everything to do with it, and put up their tents round it.

Appoint the male descendants of Levi to take care of the Sacred Tent and the chest inside it that contains [the tablets on which are written] the Ten Commandments. They must also take care of the other things that are inside the tent. [When you travel], they are the ones who must carry the tent and all the things that are inside it, and they must take care of it and set up their tents around it.

51 And when the Tent of meeting goes forward, the Levites are to take it down; and when it is to be put up, they are to do it: any strange person who comes near it is to be put to death.

Whenever it is time for all of you to move [to another location], the descendants of Levi are the ones who must dismantle the tent. And when it is time to stop traveling, they are the ones who must set up the Sacred Tent again. Any other person who goes near the Sacred Tent [to do this work] must be executed.

52 The children of Israel are to put up their tents, every man in his tent-circle round his flag.

The people of each Israeli tribe must set up their tents in their own area, and they must set up a flag/banner that represents their tribe.

53 But the tents of the Levites are to be round the Tent of meeting, so that wrath may not come on the children of Israel: the Tent of meeting is to be in the care of the Levites.

But the male descendants of Levi must set up their tents around the Sacred Tent, in order to protect the other Israeli people from being punished [MTY] by Yahweh [for coming close to the Sacred Tent]. The descendants of Levi are the ones who must stand around the Sacred Tent to guard it.”

54 So the children of Israel did as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

So the Israeli people did everything just like Yahweh had commanded Moses/me.