Numbers 26

1 After the blood of the guilty was shed, the Lord said to Moses, and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest:

After the plague [ended], Yahweh said to Eleazar and Moses/me,

2 “Number the entire sum of the sons of Israel, from twenty years and above, by their houses and kinships, all who are able to go forth to war.”

“Count all the people of Israel [again]. Write down the names of all the men who are at least 20 years old who are able to fight [in battles], along with their family names.”

3 And so, Moses and Eleazar the priest, who were in the plains of Moab, above the Jordan, opposite Jericho, spoke to those who were

So while the Israelis were on the plains where the Moab people-group lived, Eleazar and Moses/I told this to the Israeli leaders:

4 from twenty years and above, just as the Lord had commanded. And this is their number:

“Write down the names of all the Israeli men who are at least 20 years old, as Yahweh has commanded us.” [So they did that], and this is a record of all the descendants of Jacob who came out of Egypt [who were still alive].

5 Ruben, the firstborn of Israel; his son, Hanoch, from whom is the family of the Hanochites; and Pallu, from whom is the family of the Palluites;

[They counted] 43,730 men from the tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son. They were in clans descended from Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

6 and Hezron, from whom is the family of the Hezronites; and Carmi, from whom is the family of the Carmites.

7 These are the families of the stock of Ruben, whose number was found to be forty-three thousand and seven hundred thirty.

8 The son of Phallu: Eliab;

Pallu’s son was Eliab

9 his sons, Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are Dathan and Abiram, the leaders of the people, who rose up against Moses and Aaron in the sedition at Korah, when they rebelled against the Lord.

and his grandsons were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the leaders who joined with Korah to conspire against Aaron and Moses/me and rebelled against Yahweh.

10 And the earth, opening its mouth, devoured Korah, with many others dying, when the fire burned two hundred fifty men. And a great miracle was wrought,

But the earth opened up and swallowed them and Korah. Yahweh also sent a fire that burned up 250 men who supported those three men. That was a warning [to all the Israeli people] that they should respect and obey the leaders whom Yahweh had appointed.

11 so that, when Korah perished, his sons did not perish.

But the descendants of Korah did not die [on that day].

12 The sons of Simeon, by their kinships: Nemuel, from him is the family of the Nemuelites; Jamin, from him is the family of the Jaminites; Jachin, from him is the family of the Jachinites;

The Israeli leaders counted 22,200 men from the tribe of Simeon. They were in clans descended from Nemuel, Jamin, Jakin, Zerah, and Shaul.

13 Sohar, from him is the family of the Soharites; Shaul, from him is the family of the Shaulites.

14 These are the families of the stock of Simeon, whose entire number was twenty-two thousand two hundred.

15 The sons of Gad, by their kinships: Zephon, from him is the family of the Zephonites; Haggi, from him is the family of the Haggites; Shuni, from him is the family of the Shunites;

They counted 40,500 men from the tribe of Gad. They were in clans descended from Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ozni, Eri, Arod, and Areli.

16 Ozni, from him is the family of the Oznites; Eri, from him is the family of the Erites;

17 Arod, from him is the family of the Arodites; Areli, from him is the family of the Arelites.

18 These are the families of Gad, whose entire number was forty thousand five hundred.

19 The sons of Judah: Er and Onan, who both died in the land of Canaan.

They counted 76,500 men from the tribe of Judah. They were in clans descended from Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. Judah’s other two sons, Er and Onan, died in Canaan [without having had any children].

20 And these were the sons of Judah, by their kinships: Shelah, from whom is the family of the Shelahites; Perez, from whom is the family of the Perezites; Zerah, from whom is the family of the Zerahites.

21 Moreover, the sons of Phares were: Hezron, from whom is the family of the Hezronites; and Hamul, from whom is the family of the Hamulites.

22 These are the families of Judah, whose entire number was seventy-six thousand five hundred.

23 The sons of Issachar, by their kinships: Tola from whom is the family of the Tolaites; Puvah, from whom is the family of the Puvahites;

They counted 64,300 men from the tribe of Issachar. They were in clans descended from Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.

24 Jashub, from whom is the family of the Jashubites; Shimron, from whom is the family of the Shimronites.

25 These are the kinships of Issachar, whose number was sixty-four thousand three hundred.

26 The sons of Zebulon by their kinships: Sered, from whom is the family of the Seredites; Elon, from whom is the family of the Elonites; Jahleel, from whom is the family of the Jahleelites.

They counted 60,500 men from the tribe of Zebulun. They were in clans descended from Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

27 These are the kinships of Zebulun, whose number was sixty thousand five hundred.

28 The sons of Joseph by their kinships: Manasseh and Ephraim.

They counted 52,700 men from the tribe of Manasseh, who was one of the sons of Joseph. They were in clans descended from Machir, from his son Gilead, and from his six grandsons—Jezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, and Hepher. Hepher’s son Zelophehad did not have any sons, but he had five daughters—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

29 From Manasseh was born Machir, from whom is the family of the Machirites. Machir conceived Gilead, from whom is the family of the Gileadites.

30 Gilead had sons: Jezer, from whom is the family of the Jezerites; and Helek, from whom is the family of the Helekites;

31 and Asriel, from whom is the family of the Asrielites; and Shechem, from whom is the family of the Shechemites;

32 and Shemida, from whom is the family of the Shemidaites; and Hepher, from whom is the family of the Hepherites.

33 Now Hepher was the father of Zelophehad, who had no sons, but only daughters, whose names are these: Mahlah, and Noa, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

34 These are the families of Manasseh, and their number was fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

35 Now the sons of Ephraim by their kinships were these: Shuthelah, from whom is the family of the Shuthelahites; Becher, from whom is the family of the Becherites; Tahan, from whom is the family of the Tahanites.

They counted 32,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim, who was Joseph’s other son. They were in clans descended from Shuthelah, Becher, Tahan, and Shuthelah’s son Eran.

36 Furthermore, the son of Shuthelah was Eran, from whom is the family of the Eranites.

37 These are the kinships of the sons of Ephraim, whose number was thirty-two thousand five hundred.

38 These are the sons of Joseph by their families: the sons of Benjamin in their kinships: Bela, from whom is the family of the Belaites; Ashbel, from whom is the family of the Ashbelites; Ahiram, from whom is the family of the Ahiramites;

They counted 45,600 men from the tribe of Benjamin. They were in clans descended from Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shephupham, and Hupham, and from Bela’s two sons—Ard and Naaman.

39 Shupham, from whom is the family of the Shuphamites; Hupham, from whom is the family of the Huphamites.

40 The sons of Bela: Arad and Naaman. From Arad, the family of the Aradites; from Naaman, the family of the Naamanites.

41 These are the sons of Benjamin by their kinships, whose number was forty-five thousand six hundred.

42 The sons of Dan by their kinships: Shuham, from whom is the family of the Shuhamites. These are the kinships of Dan by their families.

They counted 64,400 men from the tribe of Dan. They were in one clan descended from Shuham.

43 All these were Shuhamites, whose number was sixty-four thousand four hundred.

44 The sons of Asher by their kinships: Imnah, from whom is the family of the Imnahites; Ishvi, from whom is the family of the Ishvites; Beriah, from whom is the family of the Beriahites.

They counted 53,400 men from the tribe of Asher. They were in clans descended from Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and from Beriah’s two sons—Heber and Malkiel. Asher also had a daughter named Serah.

45 The sons of Beriah: Heber, from whom is the family of the Heberites; and Malchiel, from whom is the family of the Malchielites.

46 Now the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.

47 These are the kinships of the sons of Asher, and their number was fifty-three thousand four hundred.

48 The sons of Naphtali by their kinships: Jahzeel, from whom is the family of the Jahzeelites; Guni, from whom is the family of the Gunites;

They counted 45,400 men from the tribe of Naphtali. They were in clans descended from Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

49 Jezer, from whom is the family of the Jezerites; Shillem, from whom is the family of the Shillemites.

50 These are the kinships of the sons of Naphtali by their families, whose number was forty-five thousand four hundred.

51 This is the sum of the sons of Israel, who were counted: six hundred thousand and one thousand seven hundred thirty.

The total of the Israeli men whom the leaders counted was 601,730.

52 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

53 “The land shall be divided to these, as their possessions, according to the number of their names.

“Divide Canaan land among the tribes. Distribute the land according the number of people in each tribe that are on your lists.

54 To the greater number you shall give a greater portion, and to the lesser number, a lesser portion. To each one, just as they have now been counted, a possession shall be delivered.

Decide by (casting lots/throwing stones which are marked) to determine which group will get which area, but give the largest areas to the groups with the most people.”

55 Yet only in so far as the land is divided by lot to a tribe and to families.

56 Whatever the lot will happen to be, it shall be accepted, either by the greater, or by the lesser.

57 Likewise, this is the number of the sons of Levi by their families: Gershon, from whom is the family of the Gershonites; Kohath, from whom is the family of the Kohathites; Merari, from whom is the family of the Merarites.

The leaders also counted the male descendants of Levi. They were in clans descended from Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

58 These are the families of Levi: The family of Libni, the family of Hebroni, the family of Mahli, the family of Mushi, the family of Korah. Yet truly, Kohath conceived Amram,

These also included people from the clans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. All of them were descendants of Levi. Kohath was the ancestor of Amram,

59 who had a wife, Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to him in Egypt. She bore, to her husband Amram: sons, Aaron and Moses, as well as their sister, Miriam.

whose wife was Jochebed. She also was a descendant of Levi, but she was born in Egypt. She and Amram had two sons, Aaron and Moses/me, and their/our [older] sister Miriam.

60 From Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, and Eleazar and Ithamar.

Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

61 Of these, Nadab and Abihu died, when they had offered strange fire before the Lord.

But Nadab and Abihu died when they burned [incense for a sacrifice] to Yahweh in a way that disobeyed what Yahweh had commanded.

62 And these were all who were numbered: twenty-three thousand of the male gender, from one month and above. For they were not counted among the sons of Israel, neither was a possession given to them with the others.

The leaders counted 23,000 men from the descendants of Levi who were at least one month old. But these men were not counted when the rest of the Israeli people [were counted], because they were not given any land.

63 This is the number of the sons of Israel, who were enrolled by Moses and by Eleazar the priest, in the plains of Moab, above the Jordan, opposite Jericho.

Those were the men whom Eleazar and Moses/I said should be counted. They counted the Israeli people on the plains where the Moab people-group lived, on the [east] side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho [city].

64 Among these, not one of them was numbered before, by Moses and Aaron in the desert of Sinai.

None of the men whom they counted were on the lists that were made by Aaron and Moses/me when the Israelis were in the Sinai Desert,

65 For the Lord had foretold that all would die in the wilderness. And not one of them remained, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

because Yahweh had said about them, “They will all die in this desert,” [and that is what happened]. The only ones who were still alive were Jephunneh’s son Caleb and Nun’s son Joshua.