Numbers 1:19-52

¹⁹just as Moses/I had commanded. They wrote the names while ◄the Israelis/we► were there in the Sinai Desert.

²⁰This is a list of the number of men who were at least twenty years old and able to fight in battles, and the names of their tribes: There were 46,500 men from the tribe of Reuben (who was Jacob's oldest son); there were 59,300 men from the tribe of Simeon; there were 45,560 men from the tribe of Gad; there were 74,600 men from the tribe of Judah; there were 54,400 men from the tribe of Issachar; there were 57,400 men from the tribe of Zebulun; there were 40,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim; there were 32,200 men from the tribe of Manasseh; there were 35,400 men from the tribe of Benjamin; there were 62,700 men from the tribe of Dan; there were 41,500 men from the tribe of Asher; there were 53,400 men from the tribe of Naphtali.

⁴⁴That was the number of men from each tribe that Aaron and Moses/I and the twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel listed, along with the names of their clans.

⁴⁶The total was 603,550 men.

⁴⁷But this number did not include the names of the men of the tribe of Levi,

⁴⁸because Yahweh had said to Moses/me,

⁴⁹“When you ◄count/write the names of► the men of the tribes of Israel, do not count the men in the tribe of Levi.

⁵⁰Appoint the male descendants of Levi to take care of the Sacred Tent and the chest inside it that contains the tablets on which are written the Ten Commandments. They must also take care of the other things that are inside the tent. When you travel, they are the ones who must carry the tent and all the things that are inside it, and they must take care of it and set up their tents around it.

⁵¹Whenever it is time for all of you to move to another location, the descendants of Levi are the ones who must dismantle the tent. And when it is time to stop traveling, they are the ones who must set up the Sacred Tent again. Any other person who goes near the Sacred Tent to do this work must be executed.

⁵²The people of each Israeli tribe must set up their tents in their own area, and they must set up a flag/banner that represents their tribe.