The Census

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meetinga in the Desert of Sinaib on the first day of the second monthc of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt.d He said: 2 “Take a censuse of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families,f listing every man by name,g one by one. 3 You and Aaronh are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or morei and able to serve in the army.j 4 One man from each tribe,k each of them the head of his family,l is to help you.m 5 These are the namesn of the men who are to assist you:

from Reuben,o Elizur son of Shedeur;p

6 from Simeon,q Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;r

7 from Judah,s Nahshon son of Amminadab;t

8 from Issachar,u Nethanel son of Zuar;v

9 from Zebulun,w Eliab son of Helon;x

10 from the sons of Joseph:

from Ephraim,y Elishama son of Ammihud;z

from Manasseh,a Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;b

11 from Benjamin,c Abidan son of Gideoni;d

12 from Dan,e Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;f

13 from Asher,g Pagiel son of Okran;h

14 from Gad,i Eliasaph son of Deuel;j

15 from Naphtali,k Ahira son of Enan.l”

16 These were the men appointed from the community, the leadersm of their ancestral tribes.n They were the heads of the clans of Israel.o

17 Moses and Aaron took these men whose names had been specified, 18 and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month.p The people registered their ancestryq by their clans and families,r and the men twenty years old or mores were listed by name, one by one, 19 as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he countedt them in the Desert of Sinai:

20 From the descendants of Reubenu the firstborn sonv of Israel:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. 21 The number from the tribe of Reubenw was 46,500.

22 From the descendants of Simeon:x

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were counted and listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. 23 The number from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.y

24 From the descendants of Gad:z

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 25 The number from the tribe of Gada was 45,650.

26 From the descendants of Judah:b

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 27 The number from the tribe of Judahc was 74,600.

28 From the descendants of Issachar:d

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 29 The number from the tribe of Issachare was 54,400.f

30 From the descendants of Zebulun:g

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 31 The number from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.h

32 From the sons of Joseph:i

From the descendants of Ephraim:j

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 33 The number from the tribe of Ephraimk was 40,500.

34 From the descendants of Manasseh:l

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 35 The number from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200.

36 From the descendants of Benjamin:m

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 37 The number from the tribe of Benjaminn was 35,400.

38 From the descendants of Dan:o

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 39 The number from the tribe of Dan was 62,700.p

40 From the descendants of Asher:q

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 41 The number from the tribe of Asherr was 41,500.

42 From the descendants of Naphtali:s

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 43 The number from the tribe of Naphtalit was 53,400.u

44 These were the men counted by Moses and Aaronv and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. 45 All the Israelites twenty years old or morew who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families.x 46 The total number was 603,550.y

47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites,z however, was not counteda along with the others. 48 The Lord had said to Moses: 49 “You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacleb of the covenant lawc—over all its furnishingsd and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. 51 Whenever the tabernaclee is to move,f the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it.g Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death.h 52 The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard.i 53 The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernaclej of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fallk on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.l”

54 The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses.