¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, in the desert of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after the exodus from Egypt, and said:

² 'Take a census of the whole community of Israelites by clans and families, taking a count of the names of all the males, head by head.

³ You and Aaron will register all those in Israel, twenty years of age and over, fit to bear arms, company by company;

⁴ you will have one man from each tribe, the head of his family, to help you.

⁵ 'These are the names of those who must help you: For Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur.

⁶ For Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁷ For Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab.

⁸ For Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar.

⁹ For Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon.

¹⁰ Of the sons of Joseph: for Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; for Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

¹¹ For Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni.

¹² For Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

¹³ For Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran.

¹⁴ For Gad, Eliasaph son of Reuel.

¹⁵ For Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.'

¹⁶ These were men of repute in the community; they were the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of Israel's thousands.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named

¹⁸ and on the first day of the second month they mustered the whole community. The Israelites established their pedigrees by clans and families, and one by one the names of all men of twenty years and over were recorded.

¹⁹ As Yahweh had ordered, Moses registered them in the desert of Sinai.

²⁰ Once the pedigrees of the descendants of Reuben, Israel's first-born, had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

²¹ The total of these for the tribe of Reuben was forty-six thousand five hundred.

²² Once the pedigrees of Simeon's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

²³ The total of these for the tribe of Simeon was fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

²⁴ Once the pedigrees of Gad's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

²⁵ The total of these for the tribe of Gad was forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

²⁶ Once the pedigrees of Judah's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

²⁷ The total of these for the tribe of Judah was seventy-four thousand six hundred.

²⁸ Once the pedigrees of Issachar's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

²⁹ The total of these for the tribe of Issachar was fifty-four thousand four hundred.

³⁰ Once the pedigrees of Zebulun's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

³¹ The total of these for the tribe of Zebulun was fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

³² As regards the descendants of Joseph: once the pedigrees of Ephraim's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

³³ The total of these for the tribe of Ephraim was forty thousand five hundred.

³⁴ Once the pedigrees of Manasseh's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

³⁵ The total of these for the tribe of Manasseh was thirty-two thousand two hundred.

³⁶ Once the pedigrees of Benjamin's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

³⁷ The total of these for the tribe of Benjamin was thirty-five thousand four hundred.

³⁸ Once the pedigrees of Dan's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

³⁹ The total of these for the tribe of Dan was sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

⁴⁰ Once the pedigrees of Asher's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

⁴¹ The total of these for the tribe of Asher was forty-one thousand five hundred.

⁴² Once the pedigrees of Naphtali's descendants had been established by clans and families, the names of all the males of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were recorded one by one.

⁴³ The total of these for the tribe of Naphtali was fifty-three thousand four hundred.

⁴⁴ Such were the men registered by Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel, of whom there were twelve, each representing his family.

⁴⁵ All the Israelites of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms, were counted by families.

⁴⁶ Altogether, the total came to six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

⁴⁷ But the Levites and their tribes were not included in the count.

⁴⁸ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

⁴⁹ 'Do not, however, take a census of the Levites, or register them with the other Israelites,

⁵⁰ but enrol the Levites to take charge of the Dwelling where the Testimony is and of all its furnishings and belongings. They must carry the Dwelling and all its furnishings; they must look after the Dwelling and pitch their camp round it.

⁵¹ Whenever the Dwelling is moved, the Levites will dismantle it; whenever the Dwelling stops for the night, the Levites will erect it. Any unauthorised person coming near it will be put to death.

⁵² The Israelites will pitch their tents, each in their own encampment and by their own standard, company by company,

⁵³ but the Levites will pitch their tents round the Dwelling where the Testimony is. In this way Retribution will be kept from falling on the whole community of Israelites, and the Levites will keep charge of the Dwelling of the Testimony.'

⁵⁴ The Israelites did exactly as Yahweh had ordered Moses. They did as he said.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.

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