Numbers 1

Registration of Israel’s Troops ¹A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle Hebrew the Tent of Meeting. in the wilderness of Sinai. On the first day of the second month This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in April or May. of that year he said, ²“From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men ³twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron must register the troops, ⁴and you will be assisted by one family leader from each tribe.

⁵“These are the tribes and the names of the leaders who will assist you:
Tribe — Leader Reuben — Elizur son of Shedeur ⁶ Simeon — Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai ⁷ Judah — Nahshon son of Amminadab ⁸ Issachar — Nethanel son of Zuar ⁹ Zebulun — Eliab son of Helon ¹⁰ Ephraim son of Joseph — Elishama son of Ammihud Manasseh son of Joseph — Gamaliel son of Pedahzur ¹¹ Benjamin — Abidan son of Gideoni ¹² Dan — Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai ¹³ Asher — Pagiel son of Ocran ¹⁴ Gad — Eliasaph son of Deuel ¹⁵ Naphtali — Ahira son of Enan

¹⁶These are the chosen leaders of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.”

¹⁷So Moses and Aaron called together these chosen leaders, ¹⁸and they assembled the whole community of Israel on that very day. Hebrew on the first day of the second month; see 1:1. All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel who were twenty years old or older were listed one by one, ¹⁹just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses recorded their names in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, as their names were listed in the records of their clans and families In the Hebrew text, this phrase (This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, as their names were listed in the records of their clans and families) is repeated in 1:22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42.:
Tribe — Number Reuben (Jacob’s Hebrew Israel’s. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation. oldest son) — 46,500 ²² Simeon — 59,300 ²⁴ Gad — 45,650 ²⁶ Judah — 74,600 ²⁸ Issachar — 54,400 ³⁰ Zebulun — 57,400 ³² Ephraim son of Joseph — 40,500 ³⁴ Manasseh son of Joseph — 32,200 ³⁶ Benjamin — 35,400 ³⁸ Dan — 62,700 ⁴⁰ Asher — 41,500 ⁴² Naphtali — 53,400

⁴⁴These were the men registered by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, all listed according to their ancestral descent. ⁴⁵They were registered by families—all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older and able to go to war. ⁴⁶The total number was 603,550.

⁴⁷But this total did not include the Levites. ⁴⁸For the LORD had said to Moses, ⁴⁹“Do not include the tribe of Levi in the registration; do not count them with the rest of the Israelites. ⁵⁰Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, Or Tabernacle of the Testimony; also in 1:53. along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it. ⁵¹Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death. ⁵²Each tribe of Israel will camp in a designated area with its own family banner. ⁵³But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle of the Covenant to protect the community of Israel from the LORD’s anger. The Levites are responsible to stand guard around the Tabernacle.”

⁵⁴So the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.