Numbers 1

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year of their going out of the land of Egypt, saying,

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 a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names—every male by their counted heads;

“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 from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host in Israel, you number them by their hosts, you and Aaron;

4 and with you there is a man for a tribe, each is a head of the house of his fathers.

[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 And these [are] the names of the men who stand with you: for Reuben, Elizur 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 for Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

7 for Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

8 for Issachar, Nathaneel son of Zuar;

9 for Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

10 for the sons of Joseph: for Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; for Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

11 for Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

12 for Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

13 for Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;

14 for Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

15 for Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

16 These [are] those called of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers; they [are] heads of the thousands 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 takes—Aaron also—these men, who were defined by name,

Aaron and Moses/I summoned all these leaders,

18 and they assembled all the congregation on the first of the second month, and they declare their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names from a son of twenty years and upward, by their counted heads,

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 YHWH has commanded Moses; and he numbers them in the wilderness of Sinai.

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

20 And the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, by their counted heads, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

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 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Reuben, are forty-six thousand and five hundred.

22 Of the sons of Simeon—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, its numbered ones in the number of names, by their counted heads, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

23 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Simeon, [are] fifty-nine thousand and three hundred.

24 Of the sons of Gad—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

25 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Gad, [are] forty-five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the sons of Judah—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

27 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Judah, [are] seventy-four thousand and six hundred.

28 Of the sons of Issachar—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

29 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Issachar, [are] fifty-four thousand and four hundred.

30 Of the sons of Zebulun—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

31 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Zebulun, [are] fifty-seven thousand and four hundred.

32 Of the sons of Joseph: of the sons of Ephraim—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

33 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Ephraim, [are] forty thousand and five hundred.

34 Of the sons of Manasseh—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

35 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Manasseh, [are] thirty-two thousand and two hundred.

36 Of the sons of Benjamin—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

37 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Benjamin, [are] thirty-five thousand and four hundred.

38 Of the sons of Dan—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

39 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Dan, [are] sixty-two thousand and seven hundred.

40 Of the sons of Asher—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

41 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Asher, [are] forty-one thousand and five hundred.

42 Of the sons of Naphtali—their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host—

43 their numbered ones, for the tribe of Naphtali, [are] fifty-three thousand and four hundred.

44 These [are] those numbered, whom Moses numbered—Aaron also—and the princes of Israel, twelve men, each one has been [the representative] for the house of his fathers.

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 And they are, all those numbered of the sons of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the host in Israel,

46 indeed, all those numbered are six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

The total was 603,550 men.

47 And the Levites, for the tribe of their fathers, have not numbered themselves in their midst,

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

48 seeing YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

because Yahweh had said to Moses/me,

49 “Only the tribe of Levi you do not number, and you do not take up their census in the midst of the sons 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 and you, appoint the Levites over the Dwelling Place of the Testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all that it has; they carry the Dwelling Place, and all its vessels, and they serve it; and they encamp around the Dwelling Place.

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 in the journeying of the Dwelling Place, the Levites take it down, and in the encamping of the Dwelling Place, the Levites raise it up; and the stranger who is coming near is 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 And the sons of Israel have encamped, each by his camp, and each by his standard, by their hosts;

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 and the Levites encamp around the Dwelling Place of the Testimony; and there is no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel, and the Levites have kept the charge of the Dwelling Place of the Testimony.

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 And the sons of Israel do according to all that YHWH has commanded Moses; so they have done.

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