Moses Counts the People of Israel

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Meeting Tent.* This was in the Sinai Desert. It was on the first day of the second month of the second year after the people of Israel left Egypt. The Lord said to Moses: ²“Count all the people of Israel. List the name of each man with his family and his family group. ³You and Aaron must count all the men of Israel who are 20 years old or older. (These are the men who serve in the army of Israel.) List them by their group.* ⁴One man from each and every family group {will help you}. This man will be the leader of his family group. ⁵These are the names of the men who will stand with you {and help you}: from Reuben’s family group—Elizur son of Shedeur; ⁶from Simeon’s family group—Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; ⁷from Judah’s family group—Nahshon son of Amminadab; ⁸from Issachar’s family group—Nethanel son of Zuar; ⁹from Zebulun’s family group—Eliab son of Helon; ¹⁰from the descendants of Joseph from Ephraim’s family group—Elishama son of Ammihud; from Manasseh’s family group—Gamaliel son of Pedahzur; ¹¹from Benjamin’s family group—Abidan son of Gideoni; ¹²from Dan’s family group—Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; ¹³from Asher’s family group—Pagiel son of Ocran; ¹⁴from Gad’s family group—Eliasaph son of Deuel*; ¹⁵from Naphtali’s family group—Ahira son of Enan.” ¹⁶All those men are the leaders of their families. The people also chose them to be leaders of their family groups. ¹⁷Moses and Aaron took these men who had been chosen to be leaders. ¹⁸And Moses and Aaron called all the people of Israel together. Then the people were listed by their families and their family groups. All the men who were 20 years old or older were listed. ¹⁹Moses did exactly what the Lord commanded—Moses counted the people while they were in the Sinai desert. ²⁰They counted Reuben’s family group. (Reuben was the firstborn* son of Israel.) The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ²¹The total number of men counted from Reuben’s family group was 46,500. ²²They counted Simeon’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ²³The total number of men counted from Simeon’s family group was 59,300. ²⁴They counted Gad’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ²⁵The total number of men counted from Gad’s family group was 45,650. ²⁶They counted Judah’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ²⁷The total number of men counted from Judah’s family group was 74,600. ²⁸They counted Issachar’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ²⁹The total number of men counted from Issachar’s family group was 54,400. ³⁰They counted Zebulun’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ³¹The total number of men counted from Zebulun’s family group was 57,400. ³²They counted Ephraim’s family group. (Ephraim was Joseph’s son.) The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ³³The total number of men counted from Ephraim’s family group was 40,500. ³⁴They counted Manasseh’s family group. (Manasseh was also Joseph’s son.) The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ³⁵The total number of men counted from Manasseh’s family group was 32,200. ³⁶They counted Benjamin’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ³⁷The total number of men counted from Benjamin’s family group was 35,400. ³⁸They counted Dan’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ³⁹The total number of men counted from Dan’s family group was 62,700. ⁴⁰They counted Asher’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed with their families and family groups. ⁴¹The total number of men counted from Asher’s family group was 41,500. ⁴²They counted Naphtali’s family group. The names of all the men who were 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ⁴³The total number of men counted from Naphtali’s family group was 53,400. ⁴⁴Moses, Aaron, and the twelve leaders of Israel counted these men. (There was one leader from each family group.) ⁴⁵They counted every man who was 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army. Each man was listed with his family. ⁴⁶The total number of men counted was 603,550 men. ⁴⁷The families from the Levi family group were not counted with the other people of Israel. ⁴⁸The Lord had told Moses: ⁴⁹“Don’t count the men from Levi’s family group or include them with the other people of Israel. ⁵⁰Tell the men of Levi that they are responsible for the Holy Tent* of the Agreement. They must take care of that tent and all the things that are with it. They must carry the Holy Tent and everything in it. They must make their camp around it and take care of it. ⁵¹Whenever the Holy Tent is moved, the men of Levi must do it. Whenever the Holy Tent is set up, the men of Levi must do it. They are the men who will take care of the Holy Tent. If any person who is not from Levi’s family group tries to take care of the tent, he must be killed. ⁵²The people of Israel will make their camps in separate groups.* Each person should camp near his family flag. ⁵³But the men of Levi must make their camp around the Holy Tent. The men of Levi will guard the Holy Tent of the Agreement. {They will protect the Holy Tent} so that nothing bad will happen to the people of Israel.” ⁵⁴So the people of Israel obeyed all the things that the Lord commanded Moses.

Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. group(s) Or, “division(s).” This is a military term that shows Israel was organized like an army. Deuel Or, “Reuel.” firstborn The first child born into a family. The firstborn son was very important in ancient times. Holy Tent Or, “tabernacle,” the tent where God came to live among his people. group(s) Or, “division(s).” This is a military term that shows Israel was organized like an army.

The Camp Arrangement

2 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ²“The people of Israel should make their camps around the Meeting Tent.* Each group* will have its own special flag, and each person will camp near his group’s flag. ³“The flag of the camp of Judah will be on the east side, where the sun rises. The people of Judah will camp near its flag. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. ⁴There are 74,600 men in his group.* ⁵“Issachar’s family group will camp next to Judah’s family group. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar. ⁶There are 54,400 men in his group.* ⁷“Zebulun’s family group will also camp next to Judah’s family group. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. ⁸There are 57,400 men in his group.* ⁹“There is a total of 186,400 men in Judah’s camp. All these men are divided into their different family groups. Judah will be the first group to move when the people travel from one place to another. ¹⁰“The flag of Reuben’s camp will be south of the Holy Tent.* Each group will camp near its flag. The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur. ¹¹There are 46,500 men in this group.* ¹²“Simeon’s family group will camp next to Reuben’s family group. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. ¹³There are 59,300 men in this group.* ¹⁴“Gad’s family group will also camp next to the people of Reuben. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel.* ¹⁵There are 45,650 men in this group.* ¹⁶“There are 151,450 men in all the groups* in Reuben’s camp. Reuben’s camp will be the second group to move when the people travel from place to place. ¹⁷“When the people travel, Levi’s camp will move next. The Meeting Tent* will be with them between the other camps. The people will make their camps in the same order that they move. Each person will be with his family flag. ¹⁸“The flag of the camp of Ephraim will be on the west side. The family groups of Ephraim will camp there. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Ammihud. ¹⁹There are 40,500 men in this group.* ²⁰“Manasseh’s family group will camp next to Ephraim’s family. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. ²¹There are 32,200 men in this group.* ²²“Benjamin’s family group will also camp next to Ephraim’s family. The leader of the people of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni. ²³There are 35,400 men in this group.* ²⁴“There are 108,100 men in Ephraim’s camp. They will be the third family to move when the people travel from one place to another. ²⁵“The flag of Dan’s camp will be on the north side. The family groups of Dan will camp there. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶There are 62,700 men in this group.* ²⁷“The people from Asher’s family group will camp next to Dan’s family group. The leader of the people of Asher is Pagiel son of Ocran. ²⁸There are 41,500 men in this group.* ²⁹“Naphtali’s family group will also camp next to Dan’s family group. The leader of the people of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan. ³⁰There are 53,400 men in this group.* ³¹“There are 157,600 men in Dan’s camp. They will be the last family to move when the people travel from place to place. Each person will be with his family’s flag.” ³²So those were the people of Israel. They were counted by families. The total number of Israelite men in the camps, counted by groups,* is 603,550. ³³Moses obeyed the Lord and did not count the Levites with the other people of Israel. ³⁴So the people of Israel did everything the Lord told Moses. Each group camped under its own flag. And each person stayed with his own family and family group.