Numbers 1

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 the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt. He said, 2“Take a census of the whole congregation of the Israelites by clans and by ancestral families, listing the names of every male one by one. 3You and Aaron are to enroll them by their divisions, all the men in Israel twenty years old and up, everyone who can go out to war. 4One man from each tribe is to be with you, each of them the head of his ancestral family. 5These are the names of the men who are to assist you: from Reuben, 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 Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, 11from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni, 12from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, 13from Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran, 14from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel, 15and from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.” 16These were the men chosen from the congregation, the leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the clans of Israel. 17Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, 18and they gathered the whole congregation on the first day of the second month. The people registered their descent by clans and ancestral families, and the names of those twenty years old and up were listed one by one, 19just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses enrolled them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20The descendants of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every male twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name, one by one. 21The number enrolled from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500.

22The descendants of Simeon were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every male twenty years old and up who could go out to war was enrolled by name, one by one. 23The number enrolled from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.

24The descendants of Gad were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 25The number enrolled from the tribe of Gad was 45,650.

26The descendants of Judah were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 27The number enrolled from the tribe of Judah was 74,600.

28The descendants of Issachar were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 29The number enrolled from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400.

30The descendants of Zebulun were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 31The number enrolled from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.

32From the descendants of Joseph: the descendants of Ephraim were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 33The number enrolled from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.

34The descendants of Manasseh were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 35The number enrolled from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200.

36The descendants of Benjamin were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 37The number enrolled from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400.

38The descendants of Dan were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 39The number enrolled from the tribe of Dan was 62,700.

40The descendants of Asher were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 41The number enrolled from the tribe of Asher was 41,500.

42The descendants of Naphtali were listed by their family lines, by clans and ancestral families. Every man twenty years old and up who could go out to war was counted by name. 43The number enrolled from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.

44These are the men enrolled by Moses and Aaron and by the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each representing his ancestral family. 45So all the Israelites twenty years old and up, everyone in Israel who could go out to war, were enrolled by their ancestral families. 46The total number enrolled was 603,550. 47But the Levites were not enrolled along with the others by their ancestral tribe.

48For the LORD had told Moses, 49“The one tribe you are not to enroll is Levi. Do not include them in the census of the Israelites. 50Instead, put the Levites in charge of the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings and everything that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, look after it, and camp around the tabernacle. 51Whenever the tabernacle is to move on, 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 it is to be put to death. 52The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, everyone in their own camp and under their own standard. 53But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that no wrath falls on the congregation of the Israelites. The Levites are to keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54The Israelites did everything the LORD had commanded Moses. That is exactly what they did.