Numbers 2

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Then Yahweh said this to Aaron and Moses/me:

2 “The sons of Israel encamp, each by his standard, with ensigns of the house of their fathers; they encamp around, from in sight of the Tent of Meeting.”

“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 those encamping eastward toward the sun-rising [are] of the standard of the camp of Judah, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Judah [is] Nahshon, 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 their numbered ones, [are] seventy-four thousand and six hundred.

5 And those encamping by him [are] of the tribe of Issachar; and the prince of the sons of Issachar [is] Nethaneel 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 its numbered ones, [are] fifty-four thousand and four hundred.

7 The tribe of Zebulun [is with them]; and the prince of the sons of Zebulun [is] Eliab 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, and its numbered ones, [are] fifty-seven thousand and four hundred.

9 All those numbered of the camp of Judah [are] one hundred thousand and eighty thousand and six thousand and four hundred, by their hosts; they journey 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 [is] southward, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Reuben [is] Elizur 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 its numbered ones, [are] forty-six thousand and five hundred.

12 And those encamping by him [are of] the tribe of Simeon; and the prince of the sons of Simeon [is] Shelumiel 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 their numbered ones, [are] fifty-nine thousand and three hundred.

14 And the tribe of Gad [is with him]; and the prince of the sons of Gad [is] Eliasaph 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 their numbered ones, [are] forty-five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

16 All those numbered of the camp of Reuben [are] one hundred thousand and fifty-one thousand and four hundred and fifty, by their hosts; and they journey 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 has journeyed [with] the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they encamp so they journey, each at his station by 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, by their hosts, [is] westward; and the prince of the sons of Ephraim [is] Elishama 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 their numbered ones, [are] forty thousand and five hundred.

20 And by him [is] the tribe of Manasseh; and the prince of the sons of Manasseh [is] Gamaliel 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 their numbered ones, [are] thirty-two thousand and two hundred.

22 And the tribe of Benjamin [is with them]; and the prince of the sons of Benjamin [is] Abidan 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, and their numbered ones, [are] thirty-five thousand and four hundred.

24 All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim [are] one hundred thousand and eight thousand and one hundred, by their hosts; and they journey 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 [is] northward, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Dan [is] Ahiezer 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 their numbered ones, [are] sixty-two thousand and seven hundred.

27 And those encamping by him [are of] the tribe of Asher; and the prince of the sons of Asher [is] Pagiel 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, and their numbered ones, [are] forty-one thousand and five hundred.

29 And the tribe of Naphtali [is with them]; and the prince of the sons of Naphtali [is] Ahira 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 their numbered ones, [are] fifty-three thousand and four hundred.

31 All those numbered of the camp of Dan [are] one hundred thousand and fifty-seven thousand and six hundred; they journey at the rear by 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 numbered of the sons of Israel by the house of their fathers; all those numbered of the camps by their hosts [are] 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 And the Levites have not numbered themselves in the midst of the sons of Israel, as YHWH has commanded Moses.

But just as Yahweh had commanded, the names of the descendants of Levi were not included.

34 And the sons of Israel do according to all that YHWH has commanded Moses; so they have encamped by their standards, and so they have journeyed, each by his families, by the house of his fathers.

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.