Numbers 1
Moses and Aaron count the Israelites
1The Lord talked to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the tent where the Lord appeared to the Israelites. It was the first day of the 2nd month in the 2nd year after the Israelites had gone out of Egypt. The Lord said: 2‘You must count all of the Israelites. You must write everyone's name in a book. You must write down who his forefathers were and which family he comes from. 3Moses and Aaron, you must do this. Write the names of every man who is 20 years old or older in a book. Write down everyone who can go to war, and write down in what group of the army he must be.
4Get a family leader from each tribe to help you. 5Here are the names of the people who must help you:
From the Reuben tribe, Elizur, son of Shedeur,
6from Simeon, Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai,
7from Judah, Nahshon, son of Amminadab,
8from Issachar, Nethanel, son of Zuar,
9from Zebulun, Eliab, son of Helon,
10from the descendants of Ephraim, son of Joseph, Elishama, son of Ammihud,
from the descendants of Manasseh, the other son of Joseph, Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur,
11from Benjamin, Abidan, son of Gideoni,
12from Dan, Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai,
13from Asher, Pagiel, son of Okran,
14from Gad, Eliasaph, son of Deuel,
15from Naphtali, Ahira, son of Enan.
16I chose these family leaders from the congregation. They are the leaders of the groups in the army of the Israelites.’
17After God chose these men, Moses and Aaron took them 18and they called all the people of the congregation to come together on the first day of the 2nd month. Every man who was 20 years old or older had to say who his forefathers were and from which family he came. 19This was what the Lord told Moses to do and Moses wrote their names in a book in the Sinai Desert. 20-46Moses, Aaron and the 12 leaders counted the men who were 20 years old or older, everyone who could go to war. They wrote down who their forefathers were, from which family they came and in which group of the army they had to be. Here are the names of the men and the descendants of the forefathers:
Reuben was the oldest son of Israel. There were 46 500 men from his tribe.
From the Simeon tribe there were 59 300 men,
from Gad there were 45 650 men,
from Judah there were 74 600 men,
from Issachar there were 54 400 men,
from Zebulun there were 57 400 men,
from Ephraim, son of Joseph, there were 40 500 men,
from Manasseh, son of Joseph, there were 32 200 men,
from Benjamin there were 35 400 men,
from Dan there were 62 700 men,
from Asher there were 41 500 men
and from Naphtali there were 53 400 men.
Altogether there were 603 550 men.
The work of the Levites
47Moses and the leaders did not count the men from the Levi tribe with the other Israelites. 48The Lord said to Moses:
49‘Do not write down the names of the Levites in this book. Don't count them with the other Israelites. 50You must tell the Levites what they must do. They must care for the tent of the Lord where the covenant box with the 10 commandments is. They must look after all the tools of the tent. They must carry the tent and put up their tents around the tent of the Lord. 51When they have to take the tent of the Lord to another place, the Levites must take down the tent and put it up at the new place. If another person who is not a Levite comes too near the tent, they must kill him. 52Each tribe of Israel must put up their tents at their own place in their groups with their own flag. 53But the Levites must put up their tents around the tent of the Lord where the covenant box with the 10 commandments is. They must do this so that the Lord does not become angry with the Israelites and punish them. The Levites must work at the tent where the covenant box with the 10 commandments is.’
54The Israelites did everything that the Lord told Moses. They did exactly what He said.
English Bible for the Deaf © Bible Society of South Africa 2019. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
