Numbers 2

1 The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Then Yahweh said this to Aaron and Moses/me:

2 “The children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall encamp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it.

“When the Israelis set up their tents, they should set them up in areas that surround the Sacred Tent, but not close to it. The people of each tribe must set up their tents in a different area. Each tribe must erect in that area a banner of their own clan and a flag that represents their tribe.

3 “Those who encamp on the east side towards the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

The people of the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun must set up their tents on the east side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and the number of soldiers whom they will lead: Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, will be the leader of the 74,600 men of the tribe of Judah.

4 His division, and those who were counted of them, were seventy-four thousand and six hundred.

5 “Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar. The prince of the children of Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar.

Nethanel, the son of Zuar, will be the leader of the 54,500 men of the tribe of Issachar.

6 His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-four thousand and four hundred.

7 “The tribe of Zebulun: the prince of the children of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon.

Eliab, the son of Helon, will be the leader of the 57,400 men of the tribe of Zebulun.

8 His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-seven thousand and four hundred.

9 “All who were counted of the camp of Judah were one hundred and eighty-six thousand and four hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out first.

So there will be 86,400 troops on the east side [of the Sacred Tent]. Whenever the Israelis move to a new location, those three tribes must go in front of the others.

10 “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.

The tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad must set up their tents on the south side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and the number of men whom they will lead: Elizur, the son of Shedeur, will be the leader of the 46,500 men of the tribe of Reuben.

11 His division, and those who were counted of it, were forty-six thousand and five hundred.

12 “Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon. The prince of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, will be the leader of the 59,300 men of the tribe of Simeon.

13 His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-nine thousand and three hundred.

14 “The tribe of Gad: the prince of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.

Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, will be the leader of the 45,650 men of the tribe of Gad.

15 His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

16 “All who were counted of the camp of Reuben were one hundred and fifty-one thousand and four hundred and fifty, according to their armies. They shall set out second.

So there will be 151,450 troops on the south side of the Sacred Tent. Those three tribes will follow the first group [when the Israelis travel].

17 “Then the Tent of Meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards.

Behind that group will walk the descendants of Levi, who will carry the Sacred Tent. The Israelis will march in the same order that they always set up their tents. Each tribe will carry its own flag.

18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.

The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin must set up their tents on the west side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and number of men whom they will lead: Elishama, the son of Ammihud, will be the leader of the 40,500 men of the tribe of Ephraim.

19 His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty thousand and five hundred.

20 “Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh. The prince of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, will be the leader of the 32,200 men of the tribe of Manasseh.

21 His division, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-two thousand and two hundred.

22 “The tribe of Benjamin: the prince of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.

Abidan, the son of Gideoni, will be the leader of the 35,400 men of the tribe of Benjamin.

23 His army, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-five thousand and four hundred.

24 “All who were counted of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred and eight thousand and one hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out third.

So there will be 108,100 troops on the west side of the Sacred Tent. Those three tribes will follow the second group, [behind the descendants of Levi].

25 “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

The tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali must set up their tents on the north side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and the number of men whom they will lead: Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, will be the leader of the 62,700 men of the tribe of Dan.

26 His division, and those who were counted of them, were sixty-two thousand and seven hundred.

27 “Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. The prince of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran.

Pagiel, the son of Ocran, will be the leader of the 41,500 men of the tribe of Asher.

28 His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-one thousand and five hundred.

29 “The tribe of Naphtali: the prince of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.

Ahira, the son of Enan, will be the leader of the 53,400 men of the tribe of Naphtali.

30 His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-three thousand and four hundred.

31 “All who were counted of the camp of Dan were one hundred and fifty-seven thousand and six hundred. They shall set out last by their standards.”

So there will be 157,600 troops on the north side of the Sacred Tent. Those three tribes will be last. They must carry their own flags when the Israelis travel.”

32 These are those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. All who were counted of the camps according to their armies were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

So there were 603,550 Israeli men who were able to fight who were listed according to their families’ ancestors.

33 But the Levites were not counted amongst the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.

But just as Yahweh had commanded, the names of the descendants of Levi were not included.

34 Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.

The Israelis did everything that Yahweh had told Moses/me. They set up their tents close to their tribal flags, and when they traveled [to a new location, they walked] with their own clans and family groups.