The Second Census of Israel

1After the plague was over, the LORD told Moses and Aaron the priest’s son Eleazar, 2“Take a censusa 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.”

3Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan Riverb in Jericho. 4They 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.

5From 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; 6from Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Carmi, the family of the descendants of Carmi. 7These families of the descendants of Reuben numbered 43,730.

8Now Pallu’s son was Eliab. 9The 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. 10The 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, 11but Korah’s direct descendants didn’t die.

12The 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; 13from Zerah, the family of the descendants of Zerah; and from Shaul, the family of the descendants of Shaul. 14These families of the descendants of Simeon numbered 22,200.

15The 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; 16from Ozni, the family of the descendants of Ozni; from Eri, the family of the descendants of Eri; 17from Arod, the family of the descendants of Arod; and from Areli, the family of the descendants of Areli. 18These families of the descendants of Gad numbered 40,500.

19The descendants of Judah originally included Er and Onan, though Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20The 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. 21The descendants of Perez included: From Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Hamul, the family of the descendants of Hamul. 22These families of Judah numbered 76,500.

23The 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; 24from Jashub, the family of the descendants of Jashub; and from Shimron, the family of the descendants of Shimron. 25These families of Issachar numbered 64,300.

26The 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. 27These families of the descendants of Zebulun numbered 60,500.

28The tribe of Joseph, listed according to their families, included Manasseh and Ephraim. 29The 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 30included: From Iezer, the family of the descendants of Iezer; from Helek, the family of the descendants of Helek; 31from Asriel, the family of the descendants of Asriel; from Shechem, the family of the descendants of Shechem; 32from Shemida, the family of the descendants of Shemida; and from Hepher, the family of the descendants of Hepher. 33Hepher’s son Zelophehad had no sons, but the names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34These families of Manasseh numbered 52,700.

35The 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. 36The descendants of Shuthelah included from Eran, the family of the descendants of Eran. 37These families of Ephraim numbered 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph, listed according to their families.

38The 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; 39from Shephupham, the family of the descendants of Shephupham; and from Hupham, the family of the descendants of Hupham. 40The 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. 41These descendants of Benjamin’s families numbered 45,600.

42The tribe of Dan, listed according to their families, included the families of the descendants of Shuham. 43All the families of the Shuhamites numbered 64,400.

44The 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. 45The 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.) 47These descendants of Asher numbered 53,400.

48The 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; 49from Jezer, the family of the descendants of Jezer; and from Shillem, the family of the descendants of Shillem. 50These families of Naphtali numbered 45,400.

51The totalc of those numbered among the Israelis was 601,730.

Instructions on Dividing the Land

52Then the LORD told Moses, 53“The land is to be divided for an inheritance according to the total number of these names. 54The more there are in number,d 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, 55but the land is to be divided by lot, inheriting according to the names of their ancestor’s tribe. 56Depending on the lot, the portion of their inheritance is to be divided between those with more memberse and those with fewer members.”f

Levitical Genealogies

57Those 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. 58These 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. 59Amram’s wife was Levi’s daughter Jochebed, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She gave birth to Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.

60To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire in the LORD’s presence. 62All 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.

63So this has been a list of those who were registeredg by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they numbered the Israelis in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64But 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, 65because 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.”