The Second Census of Israel
26 After the plague was over, the Lord told Moses and Aaron the priest’s son Eleazar, 2 “Take a census of the entire community of Israel from the age of 20 years and above, according to each ancestral tribe, counting everyone who is able to go out to war in Israel.”
3 Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River in Jericho. 4 They counted every male Israeli who had come out of Egypt and who was 20 years old and above, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
5 From Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, the descendants of Reuben included from Hanoch, the family of the descendants of Hanoch; from Pallu, the family of the descendants of Pallu; 6 from Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Carmi, the family of the descendants of Carmi. 7 These families of the descendants of Reuben numbered 43,730.
8 Now Pallu’s son was Eliab. 9 The descendants of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were removed from the community because they joined the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, as did Korah’s company when they rebelled against the Lord. 10 The ground had opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with Korah. Also, that group died when the fire devoured 250 men as a warning sign, 11 but Korah’s direct descendants didn’t die.
12 The descendants of Simeon, listed according to their families, included: From Nemuel, the family of the descendants of Nemuel; from Jamin, the family of the descendants of Jamin; from Jachin, the family of the descendants of Jachin; 13 from Zerah, the family of the descendants of Zerah; and from Shaul, the family of the descendants of Shaul. 14 These families of the descendants of Simeon numbered 22,200.
15 The descendants of Gad, listed according to their families, included: From Zephon, the family of the descendants of Zephon; from Haggi, the family of the descendants of Haggi; from Shuni, the family of the descendants of Shuni; 16 from Ozni, the family of the descendants of Ozni; from Eri, the family of the descendants of Eri; 17 from Arod, the family of the descendants of Arod; and from Areli, the family of the descendants of Areli. 18 These families of the descendants of Gad numbered 40,500.
19 The descendants of Judah originally included Er and Onan, though Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 The descendants of Judah, listed according to their families, included: From Shelah, the family of the descendants of Shelah; from Perez, the family of the descendants of Perez; and from Zerah, the family of the descendants of Zerah. 21 The descendants of Perez included: From Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Hamul, the family of the descendants of Hamul. 22 These families of Judah numbered 76,500.
23 The tribe of Issachar, listed according to their families, included: From Tola, the family of the descendants of Tola; from Puvah, the family of the descendants of Puvah; 24 from Jashub, the family of the descendants of Jashub; and from Shimron, the family of the descendants of Shimron. 25 These families of Issachar numbered 64,300.
26 The tribe of Zebulun, listed according to their families, included: From Sered, the family of the descendants of Sered; from Elon, the family of the descendants of Elon; and from Jahleel, the family of the descendants of Jahleel. 27 These families of the descendants of Zebulun numbered 60,500.
28 The tribe of Joseph, listed according to their families, included Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The descendants of Manasseh included: From Machir, the family of the descendants of Machir. (Machir was the father of Gilead.) From Gilead, the family of the Gileadites 30 included: From Iezer, the family of the descendants of Iezer; from Helek, the family of the descendants of Helek; 31 from Asriel, the family of the descendants of Asriel; from Shechem, the family of the descendants of Shechem; 32 from Shemida, the family of the descendants of Shemida; and from Hepher, the family of the descendants of Hepher. 33 Hepher’s son Zelophehad had no sons, but the names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These families of Manasseh numbered 52,700.
35 The descendants of Ephraim, listed according to their families, included: From Shuthelah, the family of the descendants of Shuthelah; from Becher, the family of the descendants of Becher; and from Tahan, the family of the descendants of Tahan. 36 The descendants of Shuthelah included from Eran, the family of the descendants of Eran. 37 These families of Ephraim numbered 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph, listed according to their families.
38 The tribe of Benjamin, listed according to their families, included: From Bela, the family of the descendants of Bela; from Ashbel, the family of the descendants of Ashbel; from Ahiram, the family of the descendants of Ahiram; 39 from Shephupham, the family of the descendants of Shephupham; and from Hupham, the family of the descendants of Hupham. 40 The descendants of Bela were Ard and Naaman: From Ard, the family of the descendants of Ard; and from Naaman, the family of the descendants of Naaman. 41 These descendants of Benjamin’s families numbered 45,600.
42 The tribe of Dan, listed according to their families, included the families of the descendants of Shuham. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites numbered 64,400.
44 The tribe of Asher, listed according to their families, included: From Imnah, the family of the descendants of Imnah; from Ishvi, the family of the descendants of Ishvi; and from Beriah, the family of the descendants of Beriah. 45 The descendants of Beriah included: From Heber, the family of the descendants of Heber; and from Malchiel, the family of the descendants of Malchiel. 46 (The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.) 47 These descendants of Asher numbered 53,400.
48 The tribe of Naphtali, listed according to their families, included: From Jahzeel, the family of the descendants of Jahzeel; from Guni, the family of the descendants of Guni; 49 from Jezer, the family of the descendants of Jezer; and from Shillem, the family of the descendants of Shillem. 50 These families of Naphtali numbered 45,400.
51 The total of those numbered among the Israelis was 601,730.
Instructions on Dividing the Land
52 Then the Lord told Moses, 53 “The land is to be divided for an inheritance according to the total number of these names. 54 The more there are in number, you are to increase their inheritance, and the less there are in number, you are to decrease their inheritance. You are to provide an inheritance to each based on the size of their family, 55 but the land is to be divided by lot, inheriting according to the names of their ancestor’s tribe. 56 Depending on the lot, the portion of their inheritance is to be divided between those with more members and those with fewer members.”
Levitical Genealogies
57 Those who were numbered from the descendants of Levi, listed according to their families, included: From Gershon, the family of the descendants of Gershon; from Kohath, the family of the descendants of Kohath; and from Merari, the family of the descendants of Merari. 58 These were the families of Levi: The family of the descendants of Libni, the family of the descendants of Hebron, the family of the descendants of Mahli, the family of the descendants of Musha, and the family of the descendants of Korah.
Now Kohath had a son named Amram. 59 Amram’s wife was Levi’s daughter Jochebed, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She gave birth to Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
60 To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire in the Lord’s presence. 62 All of those individuals numbered 23,000. No male from the age of a month and above was numbered among the Israelis because no inheritance was to be assigned to them among the Israelis.
63 So this has been a list of those who were registered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they numbered the Israelis in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But none of these men among these numbered by Moses and by Aaron the priest (that is, when they numbered the Israelis in the wilderness of Sinai) survived to enter the land, 65 because the Lord had said about them, “They’ll certainly die in the wilderness. No man will survive from them except Jephunneh’s son Caleb and Nun’s son Joshua.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 26:2
- Numbers 26:3
- Numbers 26:51
- Numbers 26:54
- Numbers 26:56
- Numbers 26:56
- Numbers 26:63
