Numbers 2

1 Then spake Yahweh onto Moses and onto Aaron saying:

Then Yahweh said this to Aaron and Moses/me:

2 Every man—near his standard with the ensigns belonging to their ancestral houses, shall the sons of Israel encamp, —at a distance round about the tent of meeting, 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 eastwards towards sunrise, shall be the standard of the camp of Judah by their hosts, —even the prince of the sons of Judah, Nashon, 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 they who are numbered of them, —seventy-four thousand and six hundred,

5 Then they who encamp by him the tribe of Issachar, —even the prince of the sons of Issachar, Nethanel, 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 they who are numbered of them, —fifty-four thousand and four hundred.

7 The tribe of Zebulun, even the prince of the sons of Zebulun, 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, even they who are numbered of him, fifty-seven thousand and four hundred.

9 All they who are num-bered to the camp of Judah. a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred, by their hosts, 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 southwards, by their hosts, —even the prince of the sons of Reuben, 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, even they who are numbered of him, —forty-six thousand, and five hundred.

12 Then they who encamp by him, the tribe of Simeon, —even the prince of the sons of Simeon, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —fifty-nine thousand and three hundred.

14 Then the tribe of Gad, even the prince of the sons of Gad, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —forty-five thousand, and six hundred and fifty.

16 All they who are num-bered to the camp of Reuben, —a hundred and fifty-one thousand and four hundred and fifty, by their hosts, and they in the second rank, shall 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 set forward the tent of meeting—the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps, —as they encamp, so, shall they set forward, every man at the side thereof 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 westwards, —even the prince of the sons of Ephraim, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —forty thousand, and five hundred.

20 Then by him, the tribe of Manasseh, even the prince of the sons of Manasseh, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —thirty-two thousand and two hundred.

22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, even the prince of the sons of Benjamin, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —thirty-five thousand and four hundred.

24 All they who are numbered to the camp of Ephraim a hundred and eight thousand and one hundred by their hosts, and they in the third rank, shall 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, north-wards by their hosts, even the prince of the sons of Dan, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —sixty-two thousand and seven hundred.

27 Then they who encamp by him the tribe of Asher, —even the prince of the sons of Asher, Pagiel, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —forty-one thousand and five hundred.

29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, —even the prince of the sons of Naphtali, 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, even they who are numbered of them, —fifty-three thousand and four hundred,

31 All they who are numbered to the camp of Dan, a hundred and fifty-seven thousand and six hundred, in the hindmost rank, shall they set forward, 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 they who were numbered of the sons of Israel by their ancestral houses, —all they who were numbered of the camps by their hosts were six hundred 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 in the midst of the sons of Israel, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.

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

34 Thus did the sons of Israel, —according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so, did they encamp by their standards, and so, did they set forward, every one by his families near his ancestral house.

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.