Numbers 1

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of witness, on the first day of the second month of the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt. He said, 2 “Take the total of the whole gathering of the children of Israel, by their kindred, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male [a] 3 from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with Israel's army. You and Aaron are to count them by their armies. 4 And there is to be one man with you from each tribe, each of them a leader of his fathers' house.

5 And these are the names of the men who are to stand with you. From Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur. 6 From Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 7 From Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab. 8 From Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar. 9 From Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon. 10 From the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; 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. [b] 15 From Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.” 16 These were the men called out from the gathering, the leaders of their fathers' tribes; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel.

17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, 18 and they gathered the whole gathering together on the first day of the month, in the second year, and registered them by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, from twenty years old and up, every male, head by head, 19 as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who went out with the army: 21 the count of them from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500. [c] 22 For the sons of Simeon, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 23 the count of them from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300. 24 For the sons of Judah, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 25 the count of them from the tribe of Judah was 74,600. 26 For the sons of Issachar, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 27 the count of them from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400. 28 For the sons of Zebulun, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 29 the count of them from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.

30 For the sons of Joseph — the sons of Ephraim, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 31 the count of them from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500. 32 For the sons of Manasseh, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 33 the count of them from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200. 34 For the sons of Benjamin, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 35 the count of them from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400. 36 For the sons of Gad, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 37 the count of them from the tribe of Gad was 45,650. 38 For the sons of Dan, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 39 the count of them from the tribe of Dan was 62,700. 40 For the sons of Asher, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 41 the count of them from the tribe of Asher was 41,500. 42 For the sons of Naphtali, by their kindred, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, head by head — every male from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out with the army: 43 the count of them from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.

44 This is the count that Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel made, twelve men — one man for each tribe, each of them from his fathers' house. 45 And the whole count of the children of Israel with their armies, from twenty years old and up, everyone who goes out to take his place in the line of battle in Israel, came to 46 603,550. [d] 47 But the Levites, by the tribe of their fathers, were not counted among the children of Israel.

48 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 49 “See that you do not count the tribe of Levi, and do not take their number, among the children of Israel. 50 You are to set the Levites over the tent of witness, and over all its equipment, and over everything in it. They are to carry the tent and all its equipment, and they are to do the work of the service in it, and they are to camp around the tent. 51 And when the tent is moved on, the Levites are to take it down, and when the tent is pitched, they are to set it up; and any outsider who comes near it is to die. [e] 52 And the children of Israel are to camp each man in his own place and each man under his own standard, by their armies. 53 But the Levites are to camp before the Lord, around the tent of witness, so that there is no sin among the children of Israel; and the Levites themselves are to keep the watch of the tent of witness.” 54 And the children of Israel did everything the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. That is what they did.