< Numbers 2 >
1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Then Yahweh said this to Aaron and Moses/me:
2 The children of Israel shall encamp every one by his standard, with the ensign of their father's house; round about the tent of meeting, afar off, opposite to it shall they encamp.
“When the Israelis set up their tents, they should set them up in areas that surround the Sacred Tent, but not close to it. The people of each tribe must set up their tents in a different area. Each tribe must erect in that area a banner of their own clan and a flag that represents their tribe.
3 And [for] those encamping eastward toward the sun-rising [there shall be] the standard of the camp of Judah according to their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
The people of the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun must set up their tents on the east side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and the number of soldiers whom they will lead: Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, will be the leader of the 74,600 men of the tribe of Judah.
4 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.
5 And those that encamp next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar; and the prince of the sons of Issachar shall be Nethaneel the son of Zuar;
Nethanel, the son of Zuar, will be the leader of the 54,500 men of the tribe of Issachar.
6 and his host, even those that were numbered thereof, fifty-four thousand four hundred.
7 [With them shall be] the tribe of Zebulun; and the prince of the sons of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon;
Eliab, the son of Helon, will be the leader of the 57,400 men of the tribe of Zebulun.
8 and his host, even those that were numbered thereof, fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
9 All that were numbered of the camp of Judah were a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred, according to their hosts. They shall set forth first.
So there will be 86,400 troops on the east side [of the Sacred Tent]. Whenever the Israelis move to a new location, those three tribes must go in front of the others.
10 The standard of the camp of Reuben shall be southward according to their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur;
The tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad must set up their tents on the south side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and the number of men whom they will lead: Elizur, the son of Shedeur, will be the leader of the 46,500 men of the tribe of Reuben.
11 and his host, even those that were numbered thereof, forty-six thousand five hundred.
12 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Simeon; and the prince of the sons of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, will be the leader of the 59,300 men of the tribe of Simeon.
13 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
14 And [with them shall be] the tribe of Gad; and the prince of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel;
Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, will be the leader of the 45,650 men of the tribe of Gad.
15 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
16 All that were numbered of the camp of Reuben were a hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty, according to their hosts. And they shall set forth second.
So there will be 151,450 troops on the south side of the Sacred Tent. Those three tribes will follow the first group [when the Israelis travel].
17 And the tent of meeting shall set forth, the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so shall they set forth, every man in his place, according to their standards.
Behind that group will walk the descendants of Levi, who will carry the Sacred Tent. The Israelis will march in the same order that they always set up their tents. Each tribe will carry its own flag.
18 The standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their hosts shall be westward; and the prince of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud;
The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin must set up their tents on the west side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and number of men whom they will lead: Elishama, the son of Ammihud, will be the leader of the 40,500 men of the tribe of Ephraim.
19 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, forty thousand five hundred.
20 And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the prince of the sons of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, will be the leader of the 32,200 men of the tribe of Manasseh.
21 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, thirty-two thousand two hundred.
22 And [with them shall be] the tribe of Benjamin; and the prince of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni;
Abidan, the son of Gideoni, will be the leader of the 35,400 men of the tribe of Benjamin.
23 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, thirty-five thousand four hundred.
24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were a hundred and eight thousand one hundred, according to their hosts. And they shall set forth third.
So there will be 108,100 troops on the west side of the Sacred Tent. Those three tribes will follow the second group, [behind the descendants of Levi].
25 The standard of the camp of Dan shall be northward according to their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;
The tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali must set up their tents on the north side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and the number of men whom they will lead: Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, will be the leader of the 62,700 men of the tribe of Dan.
26 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
27 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher; and the prince of the sons of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran;
Pagiel, the son of Ocran, will be the leader of the 41,500 men of the tribe of Asher.
28 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, forty-one thousand five hundred.
29 And [with them shall be] the tribe of Naphtali; and the prince of the sons of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan;
Ahira, the son of Enan, will be the leader of the 53,400 men of the tribe of Naphtali.
30 and his host, even those that were numbered of them, fifty-three thousand four hundred.
31 All that were numbered of the camp of Dan were a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set forth last according to their standards.
So there will be 157,600 troops on the north side of the Sacred Tent. Those three tribes will be last. They must carry their own flags when the Israelis travel.”
32 These are those that were numbered of the children of Israel, according to their fathers' houses: all those that were numbered of the camps, according to their hosts, were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
So there were 603,550 Israeli men who were able to fight who were listed according to their families’ ancestors.
33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
But just as Yahweh had commanded, the names of the descendants of Levi were not included.
34 And the children of Israel did according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses: so they encamped according to their standards, and so they journeyed, every one according to their families, according to their fathers' houses.
The Israelis did everything that Yahweh had told Moses/me. They set up their tents close to their tribal flags, and when they traveled [to a new location, they walked] with their own clans and family groups.