These were the ones chosen from the community, leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the thousands of Israel.

and they assembled the entire community together on the first day of the second month. Then the people recorded their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men who were twenty years old or older were listed by name individually,

And they were as follows: The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually.

But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they must attend to it and camp around it.

The Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses -- that is what they did.

"Every one of the Israelites must camp under his standard with the emblems of his family; they must camp at some distance around the tent of meeting.

All those numbered of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions, are 186,400. They will travel at the front.

All those numbered of the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, are 151,450. They will travel second.

"Then the tent of meeting with the camp of the Levites will travel in the middle of the camps. They will travel in the same order as they camped, each in his own place under his standard.

All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim, according to their divisions, are 108,100. They will travel third.

All those numbered of the camp of Dan are 157,600. They will travel last, under their standards."

So the Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they camped under their standards, and that is the way they traveled, each with his clan and family.

Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

"Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.

They are responsible for his needs and the needs of the whole community before the tent of meeting, by attending to the service of the tabernacle.

And they are responsible for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and for the needs of the Israelites, as they serve in the tabernacle.

You are to assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they will be assigned exclusively to him out of all the Israelites.

So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; but the unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death."

because all the firstborn are mine. When I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am the Lord."

Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary.

Their responsibilities included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the curtain, and all their service.

But those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons. They were responsible for the needs of the sanctuary and for the needs of the Israelites, but the unauthorized person who approached was to be put to death.

Then they must put over it a covering of fine leather and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue, and then they must insert its poles.

"On the table of the presence they must spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.

They must spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather; and they must insert its poles.

"They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it.

Then they must put it with all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on a carrying beam.

"They must spread a blue cloth on the gold altar, and cover it with a covering of fine leather; and they must insert its poles.

Then they must take all the utensils of the service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a carrying beam.

Also, they must take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it.

Then they must place on it all its implements with which they serve there -- the trays, the meat forks, the shovels, the basins, and all the utensils of the altar -- and they must spread on it a covering of fine leather, and then insert its poles.

"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then the Kohathites will come to carry them; but they must not touch any holy thing, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.

but in order that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint each man to his service and his responsibility.

But the Kohathites are not to go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, or they will die."

This is the service of the families of Gershonites, as they serve and carry it.

They must carry the curtains for the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is over it, the curtains for the entrance of the tent of meeting,

the hangings for the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the court, which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes, along with all the furnishings for their service and everything that is made for them. So they are to serve.

This is what they are responsible to carry as their entire service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets,

According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. Thus were they numbered by him, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

You must expel both men and women; you must put them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps, among which I live."

Every offering of all the Israelites' holy things that they bring to the priest will be his.

He must not defile himself even for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, because the separation for his God is on his head.

So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising the numbering.

They brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen -- one cart for every two of the leaders, and an ox for each one; and they presented them in front of the tabernacle.

"Receive these gifts from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tent of meeting; and you must give them to the Levites, to every man as his service requires."

But to the Kohathites he gave none, because the service of the holy things, which they carried on their shoulders, was their responsibility.

For the Lord said to Moses, "They must present their offering, one leader for each day, for the dedication of the altar."

Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take a second young bull for a purification offering.

and Aaron is to offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, that they may do the work of the Lord.

For they are entirely given to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

After this, the Levites went in to do their work in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did.

and at the age of fifty years they must retire from performing the work and may no longer work.

They may assist their colleagues in the tent of meeting, to attend to needs, but they must do no work. This is the way you must establish the Levites regarding their duties."

The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt:

And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.

It happened that some men who were ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man could not keep the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

They may observe it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight; they are to eat it with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs.

They must not leave any of it until morning, nor break any of its bones; they must observe it in accordance with every statute of the Passover.

At the commandment of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.

When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, they remained camped according to the Lord's commandment, and according to the Lord's commandment they would journey.

And when the cloud remained only from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up the following morning, then they traveled on. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up they traveled.

Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud prolonged its stay over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

At the commandment of the Lord they camped, and at the commandment of the Lord they traveled on; they kept the instructions of the Lord according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority of Moses.

When they blow them both, all the community must come to you to the entrance of the tent of meeting.

"But if they blow with one trumpet, then the leaders, the heads of the thousands of Israel, must come to you.

The sons of Aaron, the priests, must blow the trumpets; and they will be to you for an eternal ordinance throughout your generations.

"Also in the time when you rejoice, such as on your appointed festivals or at the beginnings of your months, you must blow with your trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, so that they may become a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God."

This was the first time they set out on their journey according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority of Moses.

And the Kohathites set out, carrying the articles for the sanctuary; the tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived.

These were the traveling arrangements of the Israelites according to their companies when they traveled.

So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days' journey, to find a resting place for them.

And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they traveled from the camp.

And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it with mills or pounded it in mortars; they baked it in pans and made cakes of it. It tasted like fresh olive oil.

From where shall I get meat to give to this entire people, for they cry to me, 'Give us meat, that we may eat!'

Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself.

Moses said, "The people around me are 600,000 on foot; but you say, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.'

Would they have enough if the flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?"

And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do so again.

But two men remained in the camp; one's name was Eldad, and the other's name was Medad. And the spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp.

And the people stayed up all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before they chewed it, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.

So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people that craved different food.

The people traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.

They said, "Has the Lord only spoken through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?" And the Lord heard it.

And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.

and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities,

So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, at the entrance of Hamath.

When they went up through the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, descendants of Anak, were living. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff between two men, as well as some of the pomegranates and the figs.

They returned from investigating the land after forty days.

They came back to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

They told Moses, "We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!"

Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, "The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great stature.

So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt."

They said to the whole community of the Israelites, "The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land.

Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!"

The Lord said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!"