The Wilderness Years

Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.

And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their armies. And they shall go forward in the third rank.

"Those camping on the north are to be under the banner of the camp of Dan; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows: Tribe Chief Number Dan Achi'ezer the son of 'Ammishaddai 62,700 Asher Pag'i'el the son of 'Okhran 41,500 Naftali Achira the son of 'Enan 53,400 Total 157,600 "This group is to set out last with their banners."

And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.

And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.

And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards.

These are the ones counted from the people of Isra'el by clans; the total number recorded in the camps, company by company, was 603,550.

But, as ADONAI ordered Moshe, the L'vi'im were not counted with the rest of Isra'el.

The people of Isra'el did everything ADONAI had ordered Moshe: they set up camp under their banners, and they set out, each according to his family and clan.

These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe as of the day when ADONAI spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai.

The names of the sons of Aharon are: Nadav the firstborn, Avihu, El'azar and Itamar.

These were the names of the sons of Aharon the cohen, whom he anointed and ordained as cohanim.

But Nadav and Avihu died in the presence of ADONAI when they offered unauthorized fire before ADONAI in the Sinai Desert, and they had no children; El'azar and Itamar served as cohanim in the presence of Aharon their father.

ADONAI said to Moshe,

"Summon the tribe of Levi, and assign them to Aharon the cohen, so that they can help him.

They are to carry out his duties and the duties of the whole community before the tent of meeting in performing the service of the tabernacle.

They are to be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and to carry out all the duties of the people of Isra'el connected with the service of the tabernacle.

Assign the L'vi'im to Aharon and his sons; their one responsibility in regard to the people of Isra'el is to serve him.

You are to appoint Aharon and his sons to carry out the duties of cohanim; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death."

ADONAI said to Moshe,

"I have taken the L'vi'im from among the people of Isra'el in lieu of every firstborn male that is first from the womb among the people of Isra'el; the L'vi'im are to be mine.