Numbers 2

1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Then Yahweh said this to Aaron and Moses/me:

2 Every man by his own standard, by the ensign of their family division, shall the children of Israel pitch their tent; at some distance round about the tabernacle of the congregation 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 they, who encamp on the east, toward the rising of the sun, shall be [those who belong to] the standard of the camp of Judah according to their armies: and the prince of the children of Judah shall be Nachshon 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, and those that were numbered of them, were seventy and four thousand and six hundred.

5 And those that encamp next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and the prince of the children of Issachar shall be Nethanel 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, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

7 [Then] the tribe of Zebulun: and the prince of the children of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Chelon.

Eliab, the son of Helon, will be the leader of the 57,400 men of the tribe of Zebulun.

8 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

9 All that were numbered of the camp of Judah were one hundred thousand and eighty thousand and six thousand and four hundred, according to their armies: they shall first set forward.

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 on the south side, according to their armies: and the prince of the children 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, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

12 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the prince of the children 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, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

14 Then the tribe of Gad: and the prince of the sons of Gad shall be Elyassaph 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, and those who were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

16 All that were numbered of the camp of Reuben were one hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, according to their armies; and as the second shall they set forward.

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 Then shall the tabernacle of the congregation, the camp of the Levites, set forward in the midst of the camps: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place after 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 shall be on the west side, according to their armies: 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, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred.

20 And by him shall be the tribe of Menasseh; and the prince of the children of Menasseh shall be Gamliel 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, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

22 Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the prince of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gidoni.

Abidan, the son of Gideoni, will be the leader of the 35,400 men of the tribe of Benjamin.

23 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred thousand and eight thousand and one hundred, according to their armies; and as the third shall they set forward.

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 on the north side, according to their armies: and the prince of the children of Dan shall be Achiezer 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, and those that were numbered of them, were sixty and two thousand and seven hundred.

27 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the prince of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of 'Ochran.

Pagiel, the son of Ocran, will be the leader of the 41,500 men of the tribe of Asher.

28 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

29 Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the prince of the children of Naphtali shall be Achira 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, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

31 All those that were numbered of the camp of Dan were one hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred; the hindmost shall they set forward 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 family divisions: and all those that were numbered of the camps, according to their armies, were six hundred thousand and three thousand and 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 the Lord 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 all just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so did they encamp by their standards, and so did they set forward every one after his family, by his division.

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.