Numbers 1-2

Complete Jewish Bible

Parashah 34: B’midbar (In the desert) 1:1–4:20

1 Adonai spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said, ²“Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra’el, by clans and families. Record the names of all the men ³twenty years old and over who are subject to military service in Isra’el. You and Aharon are to enumerate them company by company.

⁴Take with you from each tribe someone who is head of a clan. ⁵These are the men to take with you:

From Re’uven, Elitzur the son of Sh’de’ur;
⁶From Shim‘on, Shlumi’el the son of Tzurishaddai;
⁷From Y’hudah, Nachshon the son of ‘Amminadav;
⁸From Yissakhar, N’tan’el the son of Tzu‘ar;
⁹From Z’vulun, Eli’av the son of Helon.
¹⁰Of the children of Yosef:
From Efrayim, Elishama the son of ‘Ammihud;
From M’nasheh, Gamli’el the son of P’dahtzur.
¹¹From Binyamin, Avidan the son of Gid‘oni;
¹²From Dan, Achi‘ezer the son of ‘Ammishaddai;
¹³From Asher, Pag‘i’el the son of ‘Okhran;
¹⁴From Gad, Elyasaf the son of De‘u’el;
¹⁵From Naftali, Achira the son of ‘Enan.”

¹⁶These were the ones called from the assembly, the chiefs of their fathers’ clans and heads of thousands in Isra’el. ¹⁷So Moshe and Aharon took these men who had been designated by name; ¹⁸and, on the first day of the second month, they gathered the whole assembly to state their genealogies by families and clans and recorded the names of all those twenty years old and over, as well as their total numbers. ¹⁹Moshe counted them in the Sinai Desert, just as Adonai had ordered him.

(ii) ²⁰The men twenty years old and over who were subject to military service were recorded by name, family and clan, starting with the descendants of Re’uven, Isra’el’s firstborn. Here are the totals:

²¹Descendants of Re’uven	46,500
^22-23Descendants of Shim‘on	59,300
^24-25Descendants of Gad	45,650
^26-27Descendants of Y’hudah	74,600
^28-29Descendants of Yissakhar	54,400
^30-31Descendants of Z’vulun	57,400
^32-33Descendants of Efrayim	40,500
^34-35Descendants of M’nasheh	32,200
^36-37Descendants of Binyamin	35,400
^38-39Descendants of Dan	62,700
^40-41Descendants of Asher	41,500
^42-43Descendants of Naftali	53,400

⁴⁴Moshe, Aharon and the twelve leaders of Isra’el, each from a clan, ⁴⁵counted the people of Isra’el by their clans, those twenty years old and over, eligible for military service in Isra’el; ⁴⁶and the grand total came to 603,550.

⁴⁷But those who were L’vi’im, according to the clan of their fathers, were not counted in this census; ⁴⁸because Adonai had told Moshe, ⁴⁹“Do not include the clan of Levi when you take the census of the people of Isra’el. ⁵⁰Instead, give the L’vi’im charge over the tabernacle of the testimony, its equipment and everything else connected with it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its equipment, serve in it and set up their camp around it. ⁵¹When the tabernacle is to be moved onward, it is the L’vi’im who are to take it down and set it up in the new location; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death. ⁵²The rest of Isra’el are to set up camp, company by company, each man with his own banner. ⁵³But the L’vi’im are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that no anger will come upon the assembly of the people of Isra’el. The L’vi’im are to be in charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

⁵⁴This is what the people of Isra’el did — they did everything that Adonai had ordered Moshe.

2 (iii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ²“The people of Isra’el are to set up camp by clans, each man with his own banner and under his clan’s symbol; they are to camp around the tent of meeting, but at a distance.

^3-9“Those camping on the east side toward the sunrise are to be under the banner of the camp of Y’hudah; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:

Tribe	Chief	Number
Y’hudah	Nachshon the son of ‘Amminadav	74,600
Yissakhar	N’tan’el the son of Tzu‘ar	54,400
Z’vulun	Eli’av the son of Helon	57,400
Total		186,400

“This group is to set out first.

^10-16“Those camping on the south are to be under the banner of the camp of Re’uven; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:

Tribe	Chief	Number
Re’uven	Elitzur the son of Sh’de’ur	46,500
Shim‘on	Shlumi’el the son of Tzurishaddai	59,300
Gad	Elyasaf the son of Re‘u’el	45,650
Total		151,450

“This group is to set out second.

¹⁷“Then the tent of meeting, with the camp of the L’vi’im, will set out, with the other camps in front and behind. They will go in the same order as their camps are set up — each man will go forward in his position, under his banner.

^18-24“Those camping on the west are to be under the banner of the camp of Efrayim; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:

Tribe	Chief	Number
Efrayim	Elishama the son of ‘Ammihud	40,500
M’nasheh	Gamli’el the son of P’dahtzur	32,200
Binyamin	Avidan the son of Gid‘oni	35,400
Total		108,100

“This group is to set out third.

^25-31“Those camping on the north are to be under the banner of the camp of Dan; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:

Tribe	Chief	Number
Dan	Achi‘ezer the son of ‘Ammishaddai	62,700
Asher	Pag‘i’el the son of ‘Okhran	41,500
Naftali	Achira the son of ‘Enan	53,400
Total		157,600

“This group is to set out last with their banners.”

³²These are the ones counted from the people of Isra’el by clans; the total number recorded in the camps, company by company, was 603,550. ³³But, as Adonai ordered Moshe, the L’vi’im were not counted with the rest of Isra’el.

³⁴The people of Isra’el did everything Adonai had ordered Moshe: they set up camp under their banners, and they set out, each according to his family and clan.