Moses Takes Another Census of Israel
26 After the plague Yahweh said to Moses and Eleazar, son of the priest Aaron, 2 “Take a census of the whole community of Israel by households. List those who are at least 20 years old and eligible for military duty.”
3 So Moses and the priest Eleazar spoke to the Israelites on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho. They said, 4 “Take a census of those at least 20 years old, as Yahweh commanded Moses.”
These are the Israelites who came from Egypt:
5 Reuben was Israel’s firstborn. The descendants of Reuben were the family of Hanoch, the family of Pallu, 6 the family of Hezron, and the family of Carmi.
7 These were the families of Reuben. The total number of men was 43,730.
8 Eliab was the son of Pallu, 9 and Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. (It was Dathan and Abiram, men chosen by the community, who defied Moses and Aaron’s authority. They joined Korah’s followers when they defied Yahweh’s authority. 10 The ground opened up and swallowed them along with Korah. They and their followers died when the fire consumed the 250 men. This was a warning. 11 But the descendants of Korah didn’t die.)
12 The families descended from Simeon were the family of Nemuel, the family of Jamin, the family of Jakin, 13 the family of Zerah, and the family of Shaul.
14 These were the families of Simeon. The total number of men was 22,200.
15 The families descended from Gad were the family of Zephon, the family of Haggi, the family of Shuni, 16 the family of Ozni, the family of Eri, 17 the family of Arodi, and the family of Areli.
18 These were the families of Gad’s descendants. The total number of men was 40,500.
19 Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan. 20 The families descended from Judah were the family of Shelah, the family of Perez, and the family of Zerah.
21 The descendants of Perez were the family of Hezron and the family of Hamul.
22 These were the families of Judah. The total number of men was 76,500.
23 The families descended from Issachar were the family of Tola, the family of Puah, 24 the family of Jashub, and the family of Shimron.
25 These were the families of Issachar. The total number of men was 64,300.
26 The families descended from Zebulun were the family of Sered, the family of Elon, and the family of Jahleel.
27 These were the families of Zebulun. The total number of men was 60,500.
28 The families descended from Joseph through Manasseh and Ephraim were 29 (from Manasseh) the family of Machir (Machir was the father of Gilead) and the family of Gilead.
30 The descendants of Gilead were the family of Iezer, the family of Helek, 31 the family of Asriel, the family of Shechem, 32 the family of Shemida, and the family of Hepher. 33 (Zelophehad, son of Hepher, had no sons—only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.)
34 These were the families of Manasseh. The total number of men was 52,700.
35 The families descended from Ephraim were the family of Shuthelah, the family of Beker, and the family of Tahan.
36 The descendants of Shuthelah were the family of Eran.
37 These were the families of Ephraim’s descendants. The total number of men was 32,500.
These were the families descended from Joseph.
38 The families descended from Benjamin were the family of Bela, the family of Ashbel, the family of Ahiram, 39 the family of Shupham, and the family of Hupham.
40 The descendants of Bela (through Ard and Naaman) were the family of Ard and the family of Naaman.
41 These were the families descended from Benjamin. The total number of men was 45,600.
42 The family descended from Dan was the family of Shuham.
This was the family descended from Dan. 43 The total number of men in all the family of Shuham was 64,400.
44 The families descended from Asher were the family of Imnah, the family of Ishvi, and the family of Beriah.
45 The descendants Beriah were the family of Heber and the family of Malchiel.
46 (Asher had a daughter named Serah.)
47 These were the families of Asher’s descendants. The total number of men was 53,400.
48 The families descended from Naphtali were the family of Jahzeel, the family of Guni, 49 the family of Jezer, and the family of Shillem.
50 These were the families of Naphtali. The total number of men was 45,400.
51 The total number of Israelite men was 601,730.
52 Then Yahweh said to Moses, 53 “The land these people will possess must be divided using the list of names from the census. 54 Give more land to larger tribes and less land to smaller ones. Use the totals from the census in giving land to each tribe. 55 But the land must be divided by drawing lots. The tribes will receive their land based on the names of their ancestors. 56 Whether the tribes are large or small, the land must be divided by drawing lots.”
57 The families descended from Levi were listed as the family of Gershon, the family of Kohath, and the family of Merari.
58 These were the families of Levi: the Libnite family, the Hebronite family, the Mahlite family, the Mushite family, and the Korahite family.
Kohath was the ancestor of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born in Egypt. She gave birth to Amram’s children: Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam. 60 Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu had died because they offered unauthorized fire in Yahweh’s presence.
62 The total number of all the Levite males at least one month old was 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites, because they were given no land of their own.
63 Moses and the priest Eleazar added up the total number of Israelites on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho. 64 Among them there wasn’t a single one of the Israelites Moses and the priest Aaron had counted in the Desert of Sinai. 65 Yahweh had said, “They must all die in the desert.” The only ones left were Caleb (son of Jephunneh) and Joshua (son of Nun).
Footnotes
- Numbers 26:8
- Numbers 26:17
- Numbers 26:23
- Numbers 26:39
