¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron and said:

² 'The Israelites must pitch their tents, each man by his own standard, under their family emblems. They must pitch their tents round the Dwelling where the Testimony is, some distance away.

³ 'Encamped on the east side: 'Furthest towards the east, the standard of the camp of Judah, unit by unit. Leader of the Judahites: Nahshon son of Amminadab.

⁴ His company: seventy-four thousand six hundred men.

⁵ 'Next to him: 'The tribe of Issachar. Leader of the Issacharites: Nethanel son of Zuar.

⁶ His company: fifty-four thousand four hundred men.

⁷ 'The tribe of Zebulun. Leader of the Zebulunites: Eliab son of Helon.

⁸ His company: fifty-seven thousand four hundred men.

⁹ 'The tribal forces in the camp of Judah number in all a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred. These will be the first to break camp.

¹⁰ 'On the south side, the standard of the camp of Reuben, unit by unit. Leader of the Reubenites: Elizur son of Shedeur.

¹¹ His company: forty-six thousand five hundred men.

¹² 'Next to him: 'The tribe of Simeon. Leader of the Simeonites: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

¹³ His company: fifty-nine thousand three hundred men.

¹⁴ 'The tribe of Gad. Leader of the Gadites: Eliasaph son of Reuel.

¹⁵ His company: forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty men.

¹⁶ 'The tribal forces in the camp of Reuben number in all a hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty. They will be second to break camp.

¹⁷ 'Next, the Tent of Meeting will move, since the camp of the Levites is situated in the middle of the other camps. The order of movement will be the order of encampment, each man under his own standard.

¹⁸ 'On the west side, the standard of the camp of Ephraim, unit by unit. Leader of the Ephraimites: Elishama son of Ammihud.

¹⁹ His company: forty thousand five hundred men.

²⁰ 'Next to him: 'The tribe of Manasseh. Leader of the Manassehites: Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

²¹ His company: thirty-two thousand two hundred men.

²² 'The tribe of Benjamin. Leader of the Benjaminites: Abidan son of Gideoni.

²³ His company: thirty-five thousand four hundred men.

²⁴ 'The tribal forces in the camp of Ephraim number in all a hundred and eight thousand one hundred. They will be third to break camp.

²⁵ 'On the north side, the standard of the camp of Dan, unit by unit. Leader of the Danites: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

²⁶ His company: sixty-two thousand seven hundred men.

²⁷ 'Next to him: 'The tribe of Asher. Leader of the Asherites: Pagiel son of Ochran.

²⁸ His company: forty-one thousand five hundred men.

²⁹ 'The tribe of Naphtali. Leader of the Naphtalites: Ahira son of Enan.

³⁰ His company: fifty-three thousand four hundred men.

³¹ 'The tribal forces in the camp of Dan number in all a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They will be the last to break camp. 'All under their appropriate standards.'

³² Such was the tally of the Israelites when the census was taken by families. The full count of the entire camp, unit by unit, came to six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

³³ But, as Yahweh had ordered Moses, the Levites were not included in the census of the Israelites.

³⁴ The Israelites did exactly as Yahweh had ordered Moses. This was how they pitched camp, grouped by standards. This was how they broke camp, each man in his own clan, each man with his own family.

Daily Readings   Daily readings of the Mass. 7 days/week. See Sample E-mail:    Select Gender Male Female    Zip Code:

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.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

Old Testament »

New Testament »