Numbers 1

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai. This happened on the first day of the second month during the second year after the people of Israel had come out from the land of Egypt. Yahweh said,

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 “Conduct a census of all the men of Israel in each clan, in their fathers' families. Count them by name. Count every male, each man

“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 who is twenty years old or older. Count all who can fight as soldiers for Israel. You and Aaron must record the number of men in their armed groups.

4 A man from each tribe, a clan head, must serve with you as his tribe's leader. Each leader must lead the men who will fight for his tribe.

[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 are the names of the leaders who must fight with you: From the tribe 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 from the tribe of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

7 from the tribe of Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

8 from the tribe of Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

9 from the tribe of Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

10 from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph, Elishama son of Ammihud; from the tribe of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

11 from the tribe of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

12 from the tribe of Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

13 from the tribe of Asher, Pagiel son of Okran;

14 from the tribe of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

15 and from the tribe of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

16 These were the men appointed from the people. They led their ancestors' tribes. They were the leaders of the clans in 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 Moses and Aaron took these men, who were recorded by name,

Aaron and Moses/I summoned all these leaders,

18 and along with these men they assembled all the men of Israel on the first day of the second month. Then each man twenty years old and older identified his ancestry. He had to name the clans and families descended from his ancestors.

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 Then Moses recorded their numbers in the wilderness of Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

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

20 From the descendants of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

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 They counted 46,500 men from the tribe of Reuben.

22 From the descendants of Simeon were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

23 They counted 59,300 men from the tribe of Simeon.

24 From the descendants of Gad were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

25 They counted 45,650 men from the tribe of Gad.

26 From the descendants of Judah were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

27 They counted 74,600 men from the tribe of Judah.

28 From the descendants of Issachar were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

29 They counted 54,400 men from the tribe of Issachar.

30 From the descendants of Zebulun were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

31 They counted 57,400 men from the tribe of Zebulun.

32 From the descendants of Ephraim son of Joseph were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

33 They counted 40,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim.

34 From the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

35 They counted 32,200 men from the tribe of Manasseh.

36 From the descendants of Benjamin were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

37 They counted 35,400 men from the tribe of Benjamin.

38 From the descendants of Dan were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

39 They counted 62,700 from the tribe of Dan.

40 From the descendants of Asher were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

41 They counted 41,500 men from the tribe of Asher.

42 From the descendants of Naphtali were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families.

43 They counted 53,400 from the tribe of Naphtali.

44 Moses and Aaron counted all these men, together with the twelve men who were leading the twelve tribes of Israel.

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 all the men of Israel from twenty years old and older, all who could fight in war, were counted in each of their families.

46 They counted 603,550 men.

The total was 603,550 men.

47 But the men who were descended from Levi were not counted,

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

48 because Yahweh had said to Moses,

because Yahweh had said to Moses/me,

49 “You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the total of the people 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 Instead, assign the Levites to care for the tabernacle of the covenant decrees, and to care for all the furnishings in the tabernacle and for everything in it. The Levites must carry the tabernacle, and they must carry the tabernacle's furnishings. They must care for the tabernacle and make their camp around it.

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 When the tabernacle is to move to another place, the Levites must take it down. When the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites must set it up. Any stranger who comes near the tabernacle must be killed.

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 When the people of Israel set up their tents, each man must do so near the banner that belongs to his armed group.

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 However, the Levites must set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant decrees so that my anger does not come upon the people of Israel. The Levites must care for the tabernacle of the covenant decrees.”

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 The people of Israel did all these things. They did everything that Yahweh commanded through Moses.

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