Numbers 1

Chapter 1.

1 ¹ Our Father 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 came out of the land of Egypt. He said:

² "Take a census of the whole community of the people of Israel, by their clans and their fathers' houses, listing every male by name, one by one—

³ every man in Israel twenty years old and older who is able to serve in the army. You and Aaron are to register them by their divisions. ⁴ A man from each tribe is to be with you, each one the head of his family.

The Leaders He Appointed

⁵ These are the names of the men who are to assist you: from Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

⁶ from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

⁷ from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

⁸ from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

⁹ from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

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

¹¹ from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

¹² from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

¹³ from Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran;

¹⁴ from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

¹⁵ from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.

¹⁶ These were the men called from the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

Every Tribe Counted and Named

¹⁷ So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, ¹⁸ and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole community. The people registered their ancestry by their clans and their families, and every male twenty years old and older was listed by name, one by one, ¹⁹ as our Father had commanded Moses. So he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰ From the descendants of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, recorded by their clans and their families, listing the names one by one, every male twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ²¹ those counted from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

²² From the descendants of Simeon, recorded by their clans and their families, those counted by name one by one, every male twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ²³ those counted from the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

²⁴ From the descendants of Gad, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ²⁵ those counted from the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

²⁶ From the descendants of Judah, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ²⁷ those counted from the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

²⁸ From the descendants of Issachar, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ²⁹ those counted from the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

³⁰ From the descendants of Zebulun, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ³¹ those counted from the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

³² From the sons of Joseph: from the descendants of Ephraim, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ³³ those counted from the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

³⁴ From the descendants of Manasseh, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ³⁵ those counted from the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

³⁶ From the descendants of Benjamin, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ³⁷ those counted from the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

³⁸ From the descendants of Dan, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ³⁹ those counted from the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

⁴⁰ From the descendants of Asher, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ⁴¹ those counted from the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

⁴² From the descendants of Naphtali, recorded by their clans and their families, by name, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in the army: ⁴³ those counted from the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

⁴⁴ These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. ⁴⁵ So all the people of Israel were counted by their families, every man twenty years old and older able to serve in Israel's army. ⁴⁶ All those counted came to 603,550.

The Levites Set Apart to Serve

⁴⁷ But the Levites were not counted among them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸ For our Father had said to Moses:

⁴⁹ "You are not to count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the people of Israel. ⁵⁰ Instead, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings, and over everything that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, to care for it, and to camp around it.

⁵¹ Whenever the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who comes near is to be put to death.

⁵² The people of Israel are to pitch their tents by their divisions, each man in his own camp under his own banner. ⁵³ But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that no wrath will fall on the community of the people of Israel. The Levites are to keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.

⁵⁴ The people of Israel did everything our Father had commanded Moses; that is exactly what they did.