Numbers 1
EasyEnglish Bible
Moses counts the people
1 The Israelites were in the Sinai desert. It was the first day of the second month of the second year after they left Egypt. Moses was in the Tent of Meeting.[a]
The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Put the people into clans and families and count them.[b] Make a list. Write the name of each man on the list. 3 You and Aaron must record the names of all the men in each group who can fight in the army. Record the names of men who are 20 years old or older. 4 A man from each tribe must help you. Each of them will be the leader of his family.
5 These are the men from each tribe who must help you:
Reuben: Elizur, the son of Shedeur.
6 Simeon: Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.
7 Judah: Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.
8 Issachar: Nethanel, the son of Zuar.
9 Zebulun: Eliab, the son of Helon.
10 Ephraim (Joseph's son): Elishama, the son of Ammihud.
Manasseh (Joseph's son): Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.
11 Benjamin: Abidan, the son of Gideoni.
12 Dan: Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.
13 Asher: Pagiel, the son of Ocran.
14 Gad: Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.
15 Naphtali: Ahira, the son of Enan.’
16 These were the men that they chose from among the people. They were leaders of their clans. Each of them worked on behalf of the tribe of their ancestor. 17 Moses and Aaron told these leaders to come. 18 On the first day of the second month, they said that all the Israelite people must come together. The people were in clans and in families. They made a list of all the men who were 20 years old or older. 19 They did the things that the Lord had told Moses to do. So Moses recorded the names there in the Sinai desert.
20-43 They recorded the names of all the men who were 20 years old or older. Those men could fight in the army. They recorded the names of the men in each clan and family. Reuben was the firstborn son of Israel, so they recorded his tribe first. These were the numbers of the men from each tribe:
Reuben: 46,500 men.
Simeon: 59,300 men.
Gad: 45,650 men.
Judah: 74,600 men.
Issachar: 54,400 men.
Zebulun: 57,400 men.
Ephraim (Joseph's son): 40,500 men.
Manasseh (Joseph's son): 32,200 men.
Benjamin: 35,400 men.
Dan: 62,700 men.
Asher: 41,500 men.
Naphtali: 53,400 men.
44 Moses and Aaron counted the numbers of the men in each tribe. The 12 leaders of the Israelites helped them to do it. That was one man from each tribe. 45 They recorded the names of all the men in each family. All the men who were 20 years old or older were on the list. Those men could fight in the army. 46 The number of all the men was 603,550.
The tribe of Levi
47 But Moses and Aaron did not count the descendants of Levi among the other tribes. 48 The Lord had said to Moses, 49 ‘You must not count the tribe of Levi. You must not put the Levites on the list with the other Israelites. 50 The Levites' work will be in the special Tent of Meeting. They must take care of the Tent and everything that is in it. They must carry it everywhere. Their work is with all those things. They must put their own tents round the special Tent. 51 When the people move to another place, the Levites must pack the Tent. When the people arrive at a new place, the Levites must put the Tent up again. If any other person, not a Levite, comes near to the special Tent, they must die.
52 All the other Israelites must put up their tents in groups. Each man must live among his own group. Each group must put up its own flag. 53 But the Levites must put up their tents around the Tent of Meeting. They must take care of it. Then I, the Lord, will not be angry with the people.’
54 The Israelites did everything that the Lord had told Moses to do.
Footnotes
- 1:1 The Tent of Meeting was a special tent where God came to meet his people. It was also called the tabernacle. God told Moses how to make it. See Exodus 25:8.
- 1:2 When we write Lord like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It is his own name that he told Moses. See Exodus 3:14. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been there and he always will be there.
Numbers 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
I. Census and Preparation for the Departure from Sinai
Chapter 1
The Census. 1 In the second year after the Israelites’ departure from the land of Egypt, on the first day of the second month, the Lord said to Moses at the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai: 2 [a]Take a census of the whole community of the Israelites,(A) by clans and ancestral houses, registering by name each male individually. 3 You and Aaron shall enroll in companies all the men in Israel of twenty years or more who are fit for military service.
Moses’ Assistants. 4 With you there shall be a man from each tribe, each the head of his ancestral house. 5 (B)These are the names of those who are to assist you:
from Reuben: Elizur, son of Shedeur;
6 from Simeon: Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai;
7 from Judah:(C) Nahshon, son of Amminadab;
8 from Issachar: Nethanel, son of Zuar;
9 from Zebulun: Eliab, son of Helon;
10 for the descendants of Joseph: from Ephraim: Elishama, son of Ammihud; and 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 Reuel;
15 from Naphtali: Ahira, son of Enan.
16 (D)These were the elect of the community, leaders of their ancestral tribes, heads of the clans of Israel. 17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, 18 and assembled the whole community on the first day of the second month. Every man of twenty years or more then registered individually his name and lineage according to clan and ancestral house, 19 as the Lord had commanded Moses. So he enrolled them in the wilderness of Sinai.
Count of the Twelve Tribes. 20 Of the descendants of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, registered individually by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 21 those enrolled from the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.
22 Of the descendants of Simeon, registered individually by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 23 those enrolled from the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
24 Of the descendants of Gad, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 25 those enrolled from the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
26 Of the descendants of Judah, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 27 those enrolled from the tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.
28 Of the descendants of Issachar, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 29 those enrolled from the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.
30 Of the descendants of Zebulun, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 31 those enrolled from the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
32 Of the descendants of Joseph:
Of the descendants of Ephraim, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 33 those enrolled from the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred.
34 Of the descendants of Manasseh, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 35 those enrolled from the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
36 Of the descendants of Benjamin, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 37 those enrolled from the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.
38 Of the descendants of Dan, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 39 those enrolled from the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
40 Of the descendants of Asher, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 41 those enrolled from the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.
42 Of the descendants of Naphtali, registered by name and lineage according to their clans and ancestral houses, every male of twenty years or more, everyone fit for military service: 43 those enrolled from the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
44 It was these who were enrolled, each according to his ancestral house, by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel. 45 The total enrollment of the Israelites of twenty years or more, according to their ancestral houses, everyone fit for military service in Israel— 46 the total enrollment was six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty.
Levites Omitted in the Census. 47 Now the Levites were not enrolled(E) by their ancestral tribe with the others.[b] 48 For the Lord had told Moses, 49 The tribe of Levi alone you shall not enroll nor include in the census along with the other Israelites. 50 You are to give the Levites charge of the tabernacle of the covenant with all its equipment and all that belongs to it. It is they who shall carry the tabernacle with all its equipment and who shall be its ministers;(F) and they shall camp all around the tabernacle. 51 When the tabernacle is to move on, the Levites shall take it down; when the tabernacle is to be pitched, it is the Levites who shall set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near[c] it shall be put to death.(G) 52 The other Israelites shall camp according to their companies, each in their own divisional camps,(H) 53 but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the covenant to ensure that God’s wrath will not fall upon the Israelite community. The Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the covenant.(I) 54 The Israelites complied; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- 1:2 All Israel was divided into tribes, each tribe into clans, and each clan into ancestral houses.
- 1:47 The Levites were not enrolled in this census, which was principally for military purposes, but a separate census was made of them. Cf. 3:15–16, 39.
- 1:51 Comes near: here and in 3:10, 38; 17:5; 18:4, 7 the Hebrew word rendered “comes near” is very nearly a technical term for someone who intrudes upon or violates a space set apart as holy and for which they have not been qualified by priesthood.
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