The First Census of Israel

¹On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said:

²“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.

³You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army.

⁴And one man from each tribe, the head of each family, must be there with you.

The Leaders of the Tribes

⁵These are the names of the men who are to assist you:From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

⁶from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

⁷from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

⁸from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

⁹from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

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

¹¹from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

¹²from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

¹³from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;

¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

¹⁵and from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

¹⁶These men were appointed from the congregation; they were the leaders of the tribes of their fathers, the heads of the clans of Israel.

The Number of Every Tribe

¹⁷So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,

¹⁸and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older,

¹⁹just as the LORD had commanded Moses.So Moses numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai:

²⁰From the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

²¹those registered to the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500.

²²From the sons of Simeon, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

²³those registered to the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.

²⁴From the sons of Gad, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

²⁵those registered to the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650.

²⁶From the sons of Judah, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

²⁷those registered to the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.

²⁸From the sons of Issachar, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

²⁹those registered to the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400.

³⁰From the sons of Zebulun, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

³¹those registered to the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400.

³²From the sons of Joseph:From the sons of Ephraim, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

³³those registered to the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500.

³⁴And from the sons of Manasseh, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

³⁵those registered to the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.

³⁶From the sons of Benjamin, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

³⁷those registered to the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.

³⁸From the sons of Dan, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

³⁹those registered to the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700.

⁴⁰From the sons of Asher, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

⁴¹those registered to the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500.

⁴²From the sons of Naphtali, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

⁴³those registered to the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400.

⁴⁴These were the men numbered by Moses and Aaron, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family.

⁴⁵So all the Israelites twenty years of age or older who could serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families.

⁴⁶And all those counted totaled 603,550.

The Exemption of the Levites

⁴⁷The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers.

⁴⁸For the LORD had said to Moses:

⁴⁹“Do not number the tribe of Levi in the census with the other Israelites.

⁵⁰Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.

⁵¹Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death.

⁵²The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, each man in his own camp and under his own standard.

⁵³But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

⁵⁴Thus the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Descendants of Issachar

¹The sons of Issachar:Tola, Puah,Jashub, and Shimron—four in all.

²The sons of Tola:Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, the heads of their families. In the days of David, 22,600 descendants of Tola were numbered in their genealogies as mighty men of valor.

³The sonof Uzzi:Izrahiah.The sons of Izrahiah:Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah. All five of them were chiefs.

⁴In addition to them, according to their genealogy, they had 36,000 troops for battle, for they had many wives and children.

⁵Their kinsmen belonging to all the families of Issachar who were mighty men of valor totaled 87,000, as listed in their genealogies.

The Descendants of Benjamin

⁶The three sons of Benjamin:Bela, Becher, and Jediael.

⁷The sons of Bela:Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, heads of their families—five in all. There were 22,034 mighty men of valor listed in their genealogies.

⁸The sons of Becher:Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth; all these were Becher’s sons.

⁹Their genealogies were recorded according to the heads of their families—20,200 mighty men of valor.

¹⁰The son of Jediael:Bilhan.The sons of Bilhan:Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar.

¹¹All these sons of Jediael were heads of their families, mighty men of valor; there were 17,200 fit for battle.

¹²The Shuppites and Huppites were descendants of Ir, and the Hushites were descendants of Aher.

The Descendants of Naphtali

¹³The sons of Naphtali:Jahziel,Guni, Jezer, and Shallum—the descendants of Bilhah.

The Descendants of Manasseh

¹⁴The descendants of Manasseh:Asriel through his Aramean concubine. She also gave birth to Machir the father of Gilead.

¹⁵Machir took a wife from among the Huppites and Shuppites. The name of his sister was Maacah.Another descendant was named Zelophehad, who had only daughters.

¹⁶Machir’s wife Maacah gave birth to a son, and she named him Peresh. His brother was named Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rekem.

¹⁷The son of Ulam:Bedan.These were the sons of Gilead son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

¹⁸His sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.

¹⁹And these were the sons of Shemida:Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.

The Descendants of Ephraim

²⁰The descendants of Ephraim:Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son,

²¹Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son.Ezer and Elead were killed by the natives of Gath, because they went down to steal their livestock.

²²Their father Ephraim mourned for many days, and his relatives came to comfort him.

²³And again he slept with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. So he named him Beriah,because tragedy had come upon his house.

²⁴His daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth-horon, as well as Uzzen-sheerah.

²⁵Additionally, Rephah was his son, Resheph his son,Telah his son, Tahan his son,

²⁶Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,

²⁷Nunhis son, and Joshua his son.

²⁸Their holdings and settlements included Bethel and its villages, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its villages as far as Ayyahand its villages.

²⁹And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean,Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.

The Descendants of Asher

³⁰The children of Asher:Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.

³¹The sons of Beriah:Heber, as well as Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.

³²Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham, and of their sister Shua.

³³The sons of Japhlet:Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were Japhlet’s sons.

³⁴The sons of Shemer:Ahi, Rohgah,Hubbah, and Aram.

³⁵The sons of his brother Helem:Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.

³⁶The sons of Zophah:Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah,

³⁷Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran,and Beera.

³⁸The sons of Jether:Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.

³⁹The sons of Ulla:Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.

⁴⁰All these were the descendants of Asher—heads of their families, choice and mighty men of valor, and chiefs among the leaders. The number of men fit for battle, recorded in their genealogies, was 26,000.

Wanderings in the Wilderness

¹Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea,as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

²At this time the LORD said to me,

³“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north

⁴and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

⁵Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.

⁶You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”

⁷Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

⁸So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab.

⁹Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

¹⁰(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.

¹¹Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.

¹²The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)

¹³“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.”So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.

¹⁴The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

¹⁵Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.

¹⁶Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,

¹⁷the LORD said to me,

¹⁸“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

¹⁹But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

²⁰(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

²¹They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,

²²just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

²³And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtorand settled in their place.)

The Defeat of Sihon

²⁴“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

²⁵This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”

²⁶So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,

²⁷“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.

²⁸You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,

²⁹just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

³⁰But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

³¹Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

³²So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.

³³And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.

³⁴At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destructionthe people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.

³⁵We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.

³⁶From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

³⁷But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.

Better Is One Day in Your Courts

¹How lovely is Your dwelling place,O LORD of Hosts!

²My soul longs, even faints,for the courts of the LORD;my heart and my flesh cry outfor the living God.

³Even the sparrow has found a home,and the swallow a nest for herself,where she places her young near Your altars,O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.

⁴How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!They are ever praising You.Selah

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in You,whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baca,they make it a place of springs;even the autumn rain covers it with pools.

⁷They go from strength to strength,until each appears before God in Zion.

⁸O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer;give ear, O God of Jacob.Selah

⁹Take notice of our shield, O God,and look with favor on the face of Your anointed.

¹⁰For better is one day in Your courtsthan a thousand elsewhere.I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my Godthan dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;the LORD gives grace and glory;He withholds no good thingfrom those who walk with integrity.

¹²O LORD of Hosts,how blessed is the man who trusts in You!