Israel’s armies
1Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said: 2“The Israelites are to camp, every man by his own banner, under the flag of his tribe. They are to camp all around the Holy Tent of the Testimony, but at some distance from it.
3Those who are to camp on the east side, towards the sunrise: the camp of Judah around his banner, in battle arrangement. Leader of the sons of Judah: Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4His command: 74,600 men.
5Encamped next to him:
The tribe of Issachar. Leader of the sons of Issachar: Nethanel son of Zuar. 6His command: 54,400 men.
7The tribe of Zebulun. Leader of the sons of Zebulun: Eliab son of Helon. 8His command: 57,400.
9The assembled strength of the camp of Judah numbers in all 186,400. These are to be first in marching.
10On the south side, the banner of the camp of Reuben, in battle formation. Leader of the sons of Reuben: Elizur son of Shedeur. 11His command: 46,500 men.
12Beside him shall camp: the tribe of Simeon. Leader of the sons of Simeon: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 13His comand: 59,300 men.
14The tribe of Gad. Leader of the sons of Gad: Eliasaph son of Reuel. 15His command: 45,650 men.
16The assembled strength of the camp of Reuben numbers in all 151,450. They are to be second in order of marching.
17Next the Tent of Meeting will move, since the camp of the Levites is located in the middle of the other camps. The order of marching is to be the same order as in camping, every man under his own banner.
18On the west side, the banner of the camp of Ephraim, in battle formation. Leader of the sons of Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud. 19His command: 40,500 men.
20Next to him: the tribe of Manasseh. Leader of the tribe of Manasseh: Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 21His command: 32,200 men.
22The tribe of Benjamin. Leader of the sons of Benjamin: Abidan son of Gideoni. 23His command: 35,400 men.
24The assembled strength of the camp of Ephraim numbers in all 108,100. They are to be third in order of marching.
25On the north side, the banner of the camp of Dan, in battle formation. Leader of the sons of Dan: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26His command: 62,700 men.
27Beside him shall camp 28the tribe of Asher. Leader of the sons of Asher: Pagiel son of Ochran. His command: 41,500 men.
29The tribe of Naphtali. Leader of the sons of Naphtali: Ahira son of Enan. 30His command: 53,400 men.
31The assembled strength of the camp of Dan numbers in all 157,600. They are to be last in order of marching.”
32Such was the total count of the sons of Israel when the census was made according to tribes. The full count of the entire camp, grouped under the various commands, was 603,550. 33The Levites, as Yahweh had commanded Moses, were not included in this census of the sons of Israel.
34The sons of Israel did exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. This was how they camped, grouped by banners. This was how they broke camp, each in his own clan, every man with his own family.
