The Count

“Count the whole community of the Israelites,” he said, “by their families and their fathers’ households, the larger family each man belongs to. Count every male by name, one by one, from twenty years old and up: everyone in Israel who is able to go out to war. You and Aaron are to count them by their divisions.

“Have one man from every tribe with you, the head of his father’s household.” Then the Lord named the men who would stand with them, one for each tribe. The first was Elizur son of Shedeur, for Reuben, and the last was Ahira son of Enan, for Naphtali. The man for Judah was Nahshon son of Amminadab. The descendants of Joseph had two men, one for Ephraim and one for Manasseh.

These were the men chosen from the community, the leaders of their ancestors’ tribes. They were the chiefs over Israel’s thousands, its large family groups.

Moses and Aaron took the men whose names had been given. On the first day of the second month they gathered the whole community together, and everyone told which family and household he belonged to. Every man twenty years old and up was counted by name, one by one. Moses counted them in the wilderness of Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him.

Each tribe was counted the same way. The tribe of Simeon had 59,300 men, and Gad had 45,650. Judah had 74,600, Issachar had 54,400, and Zebulun had 57,400. From Joseph’s descendants, the tribe of Ephraim had 40,500 and the tribe of Manasseh had 32,200. Benjamin had 35,400, Dan had 62,700, Asher had 41,500, and Naphtali had 53,400.

Moses and Aaron did the counting, along with Israel’s twelve leaders, one leader for each father’s household. All the Israelites twenty years old and up, everyone in Israel able to go out to war, came to 603,550.

“Instead, make the Levites responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony, with all its furniture and everything that goes with it. The Levites will carry the tabernacle and all its furniture, look after it, and pitch their tents around it. Whenever the tabernacle moves on, the Levites will take it down, and whenever it is put up again, the Levites will put it up. Any outsider who comes near, anyone who isn’t a Levite, is to be put to death.

“The Israelites are to pitch their tents in their divisions, every man in his own camp, under his own flag. But the Levites are to pitch theirs around the tabernacle of the Testimony, so that no anger comes on the community of the Israelites. The Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

The Israelites did this. They did everything the Lord had commanded Moses.

On the east side, toward the sunrise, was to be the camp of Judah, in its divisions, under its flag. The leader of Judah’s people was to be Nahshon son of Amminadab. The tribes of Issachar and Zebulun were to camp next to Judah, each with its own leader and the men who had been counted. All the divisions of Judah’s camp together came to 186,400 men, and they were to set out first.

On the south side was to be the camp of Reuben, under its flag, with the tribes of Simeon and Gad next to it, each with its own leader. Together they came to 151,450 men, and they were to set out second.

Then the Tent of Meeting was to set out, with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. They were to set out in the same order they camped in, every man in his place, by their flags.

On the west side was to be the camp of Ephraim, under its flag, with Manasseh and Benjamin next to it. Together they came to 108,100, and they were to set out third.

On the north side was to be the camp of Dan, under its flag, with Asher and Naphtali next to it. Together they came to 157,600, and they were to set out last, by their flags.

These were the Israelites who were counted. All who were counted in the camps, in their divisions, came to 603,550. But the Levites were not counted among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses. That is how they camped by their flags, and how they set out, everyone with his own family.

When Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire in front of the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, they died there in his presence. They left no children. Eleazar and Ithamar did the work of priests in the presence of their father Aaron.

“Bring the tribe of Levi forward,” the Lord said to Moses, “and present them to Aaron the priest, to serve him. They are to do what he needs and what the whole community needs in front of the Tent of Meeting, as they serve at the tabernacle. They are to look after all its furniture and do what the Israelites need done, as they serve at the tabernacle.

“Hand the Levites over to Aaron and his sons. They are given to him completely, on behalf of the Israelites. Appoint Aaron and his sons, and they are to keep to their work as priests. Any outsider who comes near is to be put to death.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of all the firstborn, every first child born to a mother in Israel. The Levites will be mine, because all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart every firstborn in Israel as holy to me, both people and animals. They will be mine. I am the Lord.”

Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Gershon’s sons were Libni and Shimei. Kohath’s sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. The families of the Levites came from these sons.

From Gershon came two families, the Libnites and the Shimeites. Together they were the Gershonites, and they had 7,500 males a month old and up. The Gershonite families were to camp behind the tabernacle, on the west, and their leader was Eliasaph son of Lael. In the Tent of Meeting they were in charge of the tabernacle and the tent, with its covering and the screen across its door. They were also in charge of the hangings of the courtyard that goes around the tabernacle and the altar, and of the screen across the courtyard’s door. And they had the cords used in all that work.

From Kohath came four families, the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites. Together they were the Kohathites. They had 8,600 males a month old and up, and they took care of the sanctuary. The Kohathite families were to pitch their tents south of the tabernacle, and their leader was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. They were in charge of the ark, the table, the lamp stand and the altars. They were also in charge of the sanctuary’s tools they used in their service, and the screen, and all the work that went with them. Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was to lead all the leaders of the Levites. He was to watch over those who took care of the sanctuary.

From Merari came two families, the Mahlites and the Mushites. They had 6,200 males a month old and up. Their leader was Zuriel son of Abihail, and they were to pitch their tents north of the tabernacle. They were in charge of the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets and all its tools, and all the work that went with them. They were also in charge of the pillars of the courtyard around it, with their sockets, their tent pegs and their cords.

On the east side, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, Moses was to camp with Aaron and his sons. They were to take care of the sanctuary, doing this duty for the Israelites. If an outsider came near, he was to be put to death.

Moses and Aaron counted the Levites at the Lord’s command, family by family. All the males a month old and up came to 22,000.

Moses counted every firstborn among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded him. All the firstborn males a month old and up, counted by name, came to 22,273.

The Lord said to Moses, “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ livestock instead of theirs. The Levites will be mine. I am the Lord. There are 273 more firstborn Israelites than there are Levites. To buy them back, take five shekels for each one, about an ounce and three-quarters. Weigh them by the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. Give the money for buying back these extra ones to Aaron and his sons.”

Moses took the money to buy back the firstborn who were left over, after the Levites had bought back the others. From the firstborn of the Israelites he took 1,365 shekels, about thirty pounds, weighed by the shekel of the sanctuary. Moses gave the money to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord had said, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

“The work the sons of Kohath do in the Tent of Meeting is with the most holy things. When the camp moves on, Aaron and his sons are to go in. They are to take down the veil that hangs as a screen and use it to cover the ark of the Testimony. Then a covering of sealskin goes over it, and a blue cloth over that. Then they are to put in its poles.

“They are to lay a blue cloth over the table of show bread. On it they are to set the dishes, the spoons, the bowls and the cups for pouring. The bread that is always there is to stay on it. A scarlet cloth goes over all of these, then a covering of sealskin, and then they put in its poles. The lamp stand that gives the light is to be covered with a blue cloth, with its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes and all the jars for the oil they use to tend it. Then the lamp stand and all its tools are to go inside a covering of sealskin and onto the frame.

“The gold altar is to get a blue cloth and a covering of sealskin too, and its poles put in. All the tools used for the service in the sanctuary are to be wrapped in a blue cloth, covered with sealskin, and set on the frame. They are to clear the ashes off the altar and lay a purple cloth over it. Then they are to put all the tools used at the altar on top: the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels and the basins. Then comes a covering of sealskin, and then its poles.

“When the camp is setting out, Aaron and his sons are to cover the sanctuary and all its furniture. Once they have finished, the sons of Kohath are to come and carry it. But they must not touch the sanctuary, so that they don’t die. The sons of Kohath are to carry these things that belong to the Tent of Meeting.

“Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be in charge of the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the meal offering that is always offered, and the anointing oil. The whole tabernacle and everything in it, the sanctuary and its furnishings, are his to look after.”

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Don’t let the Kohathite families die out from among the Levites. Do this for them, so that when they go near the most holy things, they will live and not die. Aaron and his sons are to go in and give each of them his work and his load. But the Kohathites must not go in to see the sanctuary, even for a moment, so that they don’t die.”

This was the work of the Gershonite families, serving and carrying loads. They were to carry the curtains, coverings and hangings they looked after in camp, and the sealskin covering that went on top. They were to carry their cords and all the tools for their work too, and do whatever needed doing with them.

Aaron and his sons were to give the orders for all the Gershonites’ work, every load they carried and every task. The Gershonites were to be told their duties, everything they were responsible for. They were to do their work under Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

The sons of Merari were to be counted the same way. Their loads were the boards, bars, pillars and sockets they looked after in camp, for the tabernacle and for the courtyard around it. They were to carry the tent pegs, the cords and all their tools too. Each man was to be told by name what he was to carry. They too were to work under Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

Moses, Aaron and the community’s leaders counted the Levites family by family. They counted everyone from thirty to fifty who came to do the work of serving and the work of carrying loads in the Tent of Meeting. There were 2,750 Kohathites, 2,630 Gershonites and 3,200 Merarites. That made 8,580 Levites in all. Each man was counted by his work and by his load, at the Lord’s command through Moses. That is how Moses counted them, as the Lord had commanded him.