Numbers 1
1 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,
And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the covenant, on the first day of the second month, in the year after their departure from Egypt, saying:
2 “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.
“Take a total of the entire assembly of the sons of Israel, by their families and houses, and the names of each one, of whomever is of the male sex,
from twenty years and above, of all the able-bodied men out of Israel, and you shall number them by their companies, you and Aaron.
4 [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.
And there shall be with you the leaders of the tribes, as well as of the houses, in their kinships,
5 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.”
the names of whom are these: of Ruben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
of Issachar, Nathanael the son of Zuar;
of Zebulon, Eliab the son of Helon.
And from the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;
of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;
of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;
of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Reuel;
of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”
16 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.
These are the very noble leaders of the multitude, by their tribes and kinships, and the heads of the army of Israel.
17 Aaron and Moses/I summoned all these leaders,
Moses and Aaron took these, with all the multitude of the common people,
18 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
and they gathered them together on the first day of the second month, taking a census of them by kinships, and houses, and families, and heads, and the names of each one from twenty years and above,
19 just as Moses/I had commanded. They wrote the names while (the Israelis/we) were there in the Sinai Desert.
just as the Lord had instructed Moses. And they were numbered in the desert of Sinai.
20 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.
Of Ruben, the firstborn of Israel, by their generations and families and houses, and the names of each head, of all who were of the male sex, from twenty years and above, capable of going to war,
there were forty-six thousand five hundred.
Of the sons of Simeon, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names and heads of each one, of all who were of the male sex, from twenty years and above, capable of going to war,
there were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
Of the sons of Gad, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who could go forth to war,
there were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.
Of the sons of Judah, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were counted seventy-four thousand six hundred.
Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who could go forth to war,
there were counted fifty-four thousand four hundred.
Of the sons of Zebulon, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
From the sons of Joseph, of the sons of Ephraim, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were forty thousand five hundred.
Furthermore, of the sons of Manasseh, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
Of the sons of Benjamin, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were thirty-five thousand four hundred.
Of the sons of Dan, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
Of the sons of Asher, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were forty thousand and one thousand five hundred.
Of the sons of Naphtali, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
there were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
44 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.
These are the ones who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one by the houses of their kinships.
And the entire number of the sons of Israel by their houses and families, from twenty years and above, who were able to go forth to war, were
46 The total was 603,550 men.
six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.
47 But this number did not include the names of the men of the tribe of Levi,
But the Levites in the tribes of their families were not numbered with them.
48 because Yahweh had said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
49 “When you (count/write the names of) the men of the tribes of Israel, do not count the men in the tribe of Levi.
“Do not number the tribe of Levi, neither shall you take a total of them with the sons of Israel.
50 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.
But appoint them over the tabernacle of the testimony, and all its vessels, and whatever pertains to the ceremonies. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles. And they shall be for the ministry, and they shall encamp all around the tabernacle.
51 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.
When you would depart, the Levites shall take down the tabernacle. When you are to make camp, they shall set it up. Any outsider who will approach it shall be killed.
52 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.
Now the sons of Israel shall make camp, each one by his companies and bands, as well as his army.
53 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.”
Moreover, the Levites shall fix their tents all around the tabernacle, lest there be an indignation over the multitude of the sons of Israel. And they shall stand watch as guardians over the tabernacle of the testimony.”
54 So the Israeli people did everything just like Yahweh had commanded Moses/me.
Therefore, the sons of Israel acted according to everything that the Lord had instructed Moses.
