The First Census of Israel

¹On the first day of the second month in the second year after the people of Israel left Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses there in the Tent of his presence in the Sinai Desert. He said,

²“You and Aaron are to take a census of the people of Israel by clans and families. List the names of all the men

³twenty years old or older who are fit for military service.

⁴Ask one clan chief from each tribe to help you.”

^5-16These are the men, leaders within their tribes, who were chosen from the community for this work: Tribe Clan chief Reuben Elizur son of Shedeur Simeon Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai Judah Nahshon son of Amminadab Issachar Nethanel son of Zuar Zebulun Eliab son of Helon Ephraim Elishama son of Ammihud Manasseh Gamaliel son of Pedahzur Benjamin Abidan son of Gideoni Dan Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai Asher Pagiel son of Ochran Gad Eliasaph son of Deuel Naphtali Ahira son of Enan

¹⁷With the help of these twelve men Moses and Aaron

¹⁸called together the whole community on the first day of the second month and registered all the people by clans and families. The names of all the men twenty years old or older were recorded and counted,

¹⁹as the Lord had commanded. In the Sinai Desert, Moses registered the people.

^20-46The men twenty years old or older who were fit for military service were registered by name according to clan and family, beginning with the tribe of Reuben, Jacob's oldest son. The totals were as follows: Tribe Number Reuben 46,500 Simeon 59,300 Gad 45,650 Judah 74,600 Issachar 54,400 Zebulun 57,400 Ephraim 40,500 Manasseh 32,200 Benjamin 35,400 Dan 62,700 Asher 41,500 Naphtali 53,400 Total: 603,550

⁴⁷The Levites were not registered with the other tribes,

⁴⁸because the Lord had said to Moses,

⁴⁹“When you take a census of the men fit for military service, do not include the tribe of Levi.

⁵⁰Instead, put the Levites in charge of the Tent of my presence and all its equipment. They shall carry it and its equipment, serve in it, and set up their camp around it.

⁵¹Whenever you move your camp, the Levites shall take the Tent down and set it up again at each new campsite. Anyone else who comes near the Tent shall be put to death.

⁵²The rest of the Israelites shall set up camp, company by company, each man with his own group and under his own banner.

⁵³But the Levites shall camp around the Tent to guard it, so that no one may come near and cause my anger to strike the community of Israel.”

⁵⁴So the people of Israel did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Introduction

¹In this book are the words that Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between the town of Paran on one side and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other.

²(It takes eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea by way of the hill country of Edom.)

³On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after they had left Egypt, Moses told the people everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them.

⁴This was after the Lord had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in the town of Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei.

⁵It was while the people were east of the Jordan in the territory of Moab that Moses began to explain God's laws and teachings. He said,

⁶“When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

⁷Break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the surrounding regions—to the Jordan Valley, to the hill country and the lowlands, to the southern region, and to the Mediterranean coast. Go to the land of Canaan and on beyond the Lebanon Mountains as far as the great Euphrates River.

⁸All of this is the land which I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants. Go and occupy it.’”

Moses Appoints Judges

⁹Moses said to the people, “While we were still at Mount Sinai, I told you, ‘The responsibility for leading you is too much for me. I can't do it alone.

¹⁰The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

¹¹May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you increase a thousand times more and make you prosperous, as he promised!

¹²But how can I alone bear the heavy responsibility for settling your disputes?

¹³Choose some wise, understanding, and experienced men from each tribe, and I will put them in charge of you.’

¹⁴And you agreed that this was a good thing to do.

¹⁵So I took the wise and experienced leaders you chose from your tribes, and I placed them in charge of you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten. I also appointed other officials throughout the tribes.

¹⁶“At that time I instructed them, ‘Listen to the disputes that come up among your people. Judge every dispute fairly, whether it concerns only your own people or involves foreigners who live among you.

¹⁷Show no partiality in your decisions; judge everyone on the same basis, no matter who they are. Do not be afraid of anyone, for the decisions you make come from God. If any case is too difficult for you, bring it to me, and I will decide it.’

¹⁸At the same time I gave you instructions for everything else you were to do.

The Spies Are Sent Out from Kadesh Barnea

¹⁹“We did what the Lord our God commanded us. We left Mount Sinai and went through that vast and fearful desert on the way to the hill country of the Amorites. When we reached Kadesh Barnea,

^20-21I told you, ‘You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God, the God of our ancestors, is giving us. Look, there it is. Go and occupy it as he commanded. Do not hesitate or be afraid.’

²²“But you came to me and said, ‘Let's send men ahead of us to spy out the land, so that they can tell us the best route to take and what kind of cities are there.’

²³“That seemed like a good thing to do, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe.

²⁴They went into the hill country as far as Eshcol Valley and explored it.

²⁵They brought us back some fruit they found there, and reported that the land which the Lord our God was giving us was very fertile.

²⁶“But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you would not enter the land.

²⁷You grumbled to one another: ‘The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to these Amorites, so that they could kill us.

²⁸Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!’

²⁹“But I told you, ‘Don't be afraid of those people.

³⁰The Lord your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt

³¹and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.’

³²But in spite of what I said, you still would not trust the Lord,

³³even though he always went ahead of you to find a place for you to camp. To show you the way, he went in front of you in a pillar of fire by night and in a pillar of cloud by day.

The Lord Punishes Israel

³⁴“The Lord heard your complaints and became angry, and so he solemnly declared,

³⁵‘Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors.

³⁶Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.’

³⁷Because of you the Lord also became angry with me and said, ‘Not even you, Moses, will enter the land.

³⁸But strengthen the determination of your helper, Joshua son of Nun. He will lead Israel to occupy the land.’

³⁹“Then the Lord said to all of us, ‘Your children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will enter the land—the children you said would be seized by your enemies. I will give the land to them, and they will occupy it.

⁴⁰But as for you people, turn around and go back into the desert on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba.’

⁴¹“You replied, ‘Moses, we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ Then each one of you got ready to fight, thinking it would be easy to invade the hill country.

⁴²“But the Lord said to me, ‘Warn them not to attack, for I will not be with them, and their enemies will defeat them.’

⁴³I told you what the Lord had said, but you paid no attention. You rebelled against him, and in your pride you marched into the hill country.

⁴⁴Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased you as far as Hormah and defeated you there in the hill country of Edom.

⁴⁵So you cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen to you or pay any attention to you.

The Years in the Desert

⁴⁶“So then, after we had stayed at Kadesh for a long time,

A Prayer for the Nation's Welfare

¹Lord, you have been merciful to your land; you have made Israel prosperous again.

²You have forgiven your people's sins and pardoned all their wrongs.

³You stopped being angry with them and held back your furious rage.

⁴Bring us back, O God our savior, and stop being displeased with us!

⁵Will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger never cease?

⁶Make us strong again, and we, your people, will praise you.

⁷Show us your constant love, O Lord, and give us your saving help.

⁸I am listening to what the Lord God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways.

⁹Surely he is ready to save those who honor him, and his saving presence will remain in our land.

¹⁰Love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will embrace.

¹¹Human loyalty will reach up from the earth, and God's righteousness will look down from heaven.

¹²The Lord will make us prosperous, and our land will produce rich harvests.

¹³Righteousness will go before the Lord and prepare the path for him.