The children of Israel are numbered: the Levites are designed to serve the tabernacle.

¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the covenant, on the first day of the second month, in the year after their departure from Egypt, saying:

² “Take a total of the entire assembly of the sons of Israel, by their families and houses, and the names of each one, of whomever is of the male sex,

³ from twenty years and above, of all the able-bodied men out of Israel, and you shall number them by their companies, you and Aaron.

⁴ And there shall be with you the leaders of the tribes, as well as of the houses, in their kinships,

⁵ the names of whom are these: of Ruben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;

⁶ of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;

⁷ of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;

⁸ of Issachar, Nathanael the son of Zuar;

⁹ of Zebulon, Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁰ And from the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;

¹¹ of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;

¹² of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;

¹³ of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;

¹⁴ of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Reuel;

¹⁵ of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”

¹⁶ These are the very noble leaders of the multitude, by their tribes and kinships, and the heads of the army of Israel.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these, with all the multitude of the common people,

¹⁸ and they gathered them together on the first day of the second month, taking a census of them by kinships, and houses, and families, and heads, and the names of each one from twenty years and above,

¹⁹ just as the Lord had instructed Moses. And they were numbered in the desert of Sinai.

²⁰ Of Ruben, the firstborn of Israel, by their generations and families and houses, and the names of each head, of all who were of the male sex, from twenty years and above, capable of going to war,

²¹ there were forty-six thousand five hundred.

²² Of the sons of Simeon, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names and heads of each one, of all who were of the male sex, from twenty years and above, capable of going to war,

²³ there were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

²⁴ Of the sons of Gad, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who could go forth to war,

²⁵ there were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.

²⁶ Of the sons of Judah, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

²⁷ there were counted seventy-four thousand six hundred.

²⁸ Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who could go forth to war,

²⁹ there were counted fifty-four thousand four hundred.

³⁰ Of the sons of Zebulon, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

³¹ there were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

³² From the sons of Joseph, of the sons of Ephraim, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

³³ there were forty thousand five hundred.

³⁴ Furthermore, of the sons of Manasseh, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

³⁵ there were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

³⁶ Of the sons of Benjamin, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

³⁷ there were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

³⁸ Of the sons of Dan, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

³⁹ there were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

⁴⁰ Of the sons of Asher, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

⁴¹ there were forty thousand and one thousand five hundred.¹

1. 1:41The phrasing in the Latin separating the forty thousand from the one thousand five hundred may have some spiritual level of meaning, so the translation leaves these numbers separated, rather than adding them together.(Conte)

⁴² Of the sons of Naphtali, by their generations and families, and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,

⁴³ there were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

⁴⁴ These are the ones who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one by the houses of their kinships.

⁴⁵ And the entire number of the sons of Israel by their houses and families, from twenty years and above, who were able to go forth to war, were

⁴⁶ six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.

⁴⁷ But the Levites in the tribes of their families were not numbered with them.

⁴⁸ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

⁴⁹ “Do not number the tribe of Levi, neither shall you take a total of them with the sons of Israel.

⁵⁰ But appoint them over the tabernacle of the testimony, and all its vessels, and whatever pertains to the ceremonies. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles. And they shall be for the ministry, and they shall encamp all around the tabernacle.

⁵¹ When you would depart, the Levites shall take down the tabernacle. When you are to make camp, they shall set it up. Any outsider who will approach it shall be killed.

⁵² Now the sons of Israel shall make camp, each one by his companies and bands, as well as his army.¹

1. 1:52These three terms (turmas, cuneos, exercitum) appear to be based on ancient military distinctions. The term ‘cuneos,’ literally means ‘wedge,’ probably referring to a wedge-like formation of troops.(Conte)

⁵³ Moreover, the Levites shall fix their tents all around the tabernacle, lest there be an indignation over the multitude of the sons of Israel. And they shall stand watch as guardians over the tabernacle of the testimony.”

⁵⁴ Therefore, the sons of Israel acted according to everything that the Lord had instructed Moses.