Numbers 1

1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses in the desert of Sinai in the tent of meeting, —on the first of the second month in the second year by their coming forth 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 Reckon ye up the sum of all the assembly of the sons of Israel, by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names, every male, by their polls;

“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 twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war in Israel, —ye shall number them by their hosts, thou and Aaron;

4 and with you, shall be one man for each tribe, —each man, head of his ancestral house, shall be.

[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 These, then, are the names of the men who shall stand with you, —Of 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 Of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

7 Of Judah, Nahshon, son of Amminadab;

8 Of Issachar, Nethanel, son of Zuar;

9 Of Zebulun, Eliab, son of Helon;

10 Of the sons of Joseph, —Of Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; Of Manasseh, Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur;

11 Of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

12 Of Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

13 Of Asher, Pagiel, son of Ochran;

14 Of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

15 Of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.

16 These, are they who had been summoned by the assembly, being princes of the tribes of their fathers, —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 So then Moses and Aaron took these men, who were distinguished by name;

Aaron and Moses/I summoned all these leaders,

18 all the assembly also, called they together on the first of the second month, —and they declared their pedigree according to their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names from twenty years old and upwards by their polls.

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 Yahweh commanded Moses, so he mustered them in the desert of Sinai.

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

20 And they were [as followeth] —The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, in their pedigrees—by their families, by their ancestral houses, in the counting of names, by their polls, every male, from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

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 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Reuben, forty-six thousand and five hundred.

22 Of the sons of Simeon, in their pedigrees by their families by their ancestral houses, —such as were numbered of him, in the counting of names by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

23 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Simeon, fifty-nine thousand and three hundred.

24 Of the sons of Gad, in their pedigrees—by their families by their ancestral houses, in the counting of names from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war:

25 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Gad, forty-five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the sons of Judah, in their pedigrees by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names, from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

27 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Judah, seventy-four thousand and six hundred.

28 Of the sons of Issachar, in their pedigrees—by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names, from twenty year old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

29 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Issachar, fifty-four thousand and four hundred.

30 Of the sons of Zebulun, in their pedigrees—by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

31 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Zebulun, fifty-seven thousand and four hundred.

32 Of the sons of Joseph—Of the sons of Ephraim, in their pedigrees—by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names, from twenty years old, and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

33 such as were numbered of them, as belonging to the tribe of Ephraim, forty thousand and five hundred.

34 Of the sons of Manasseh, in their pedigrees—by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

35 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Manasseh, thirty-two thousand, and two hundred.

36 Of the sons of Benjamin, in their pedigrees by their families, by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names, from twenty years old, and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

37 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, thirty-five thousand and four hundred.

38 Of the sons of Dan, in their pedigrees by their families by their ancestral houses, in the counting of names from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

39 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Dan, sixty-two thousand, and seven hundred.

40 Of the sons of Asher, in their pedigrees—by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names, from twenty years old, and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

41 such as were numbered of them as belonging to the tribe of Asher, forty-one thousand, and five hundred.

42 The sons of Naphtali, in their pedigrees by their families by their ancestral houses, —in the counting of names, from twenty years old, and upwards, every one able to go forth to war;

43 such as were numbered of them, as belonging to the tribe of Naphtali, fifty-three thousand, and four hundred.

44 These, are they who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the twelve princes of Israel did number, the princes acting each one for his ancestral house.

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 So then all they who were numbered of the sons of Israel by their ancestral houses, from twenty years old and upwards, every one able to go forth to war in Israel;

46 so then all they who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

The total was 603,550 men.

47 But the Levites by the tribe of their fathers were not numbered in their midst.

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

48 For Yahweh spake unto Moses saying:

because Yahweh had said to Moses/me,

49 Only the tribe of Levi, shalt thou not number, nor the sum of them, shalt thou reckon up, 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 But do, thou thyself, put the Levites in charge over the habitation of the testimony, and over all the furniture thereof and over all that pertaineth thereto, they, shall bear the habitation, and all the furniture thereof, and they, shall attend thereupon; and, round about the habitation, shall they encamp.

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, when the habitation is to set forward, the Levites shall take it down, and when the habitation is to be pitched, the Levites, shall set it up, but the stranger that draweth near, shall be 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 So then the sons of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man, near his own camp, and, every man, near his own 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 but the Levites, shall pitch their tents round about the habitation of the testimony, that there be no wrath upon the assembly of the sons of Israel, —so shall the Levites keep the watch of the habitation 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 Thus did the sons of Israel, —according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so, did they.

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