Numbers 1

A Census of Israel's Warriors

¹The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,²“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head.³From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.⁴And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.⁵And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;⁶from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;⁷from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;⁸from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;⁹from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;¹⁰from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;¹¹from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;¹²from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;¹³from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;¹⁵from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”¹⁶These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

¹⁷Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named,¹⁸and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head,¹⁹as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰The people of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:²¹those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

²²Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:²³those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

²⁴Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:²⁵those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

²⁶Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:²⁷those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

²⁸Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:²⁹those listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

³⁰Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:³¹those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

³²Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:³³those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

³⁴Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:³⁵those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

³⁶Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:³⁷those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

³⁸Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:³⁹those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

⁴⁰Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:⁴¹those listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

⁴²Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:⁴³those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

⁴⁴These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house.⁴⁵So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel—⁴⁶all those listed were 603,550.

Levites Exempted

⁴⁷But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe.⁴⁸For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,⁴⁹“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel.⁵⁰But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle.⁵¹When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.⁵²The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard.⁵³But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.”⁵⁴Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.