One Year Bible.

The First Census of Israel

¹On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said: ²“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.

³You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions— everyone who can serve in Israel’s army. ⁴And one man from each tribe, the head of each family, must be there with you.

The Leaders of the Tribes

⁵These are the names of the men who are to assist you:

From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

⁶from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

⁷from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

⁸from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

⁹from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

¹⁰from the sons of Joseph:

from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud,

and from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

¹¹from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

¹²from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

¹³from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;

¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

¹⁵and from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

¹⁶These men were appointed from the congregation; they were the leaders of the tribes of their fathers, the heads of the clans of Israel.

The Number of Every Tribe

¹⁷So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, ¹⁸and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older, ¹⁹just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

So Moses numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai:

²⁰From the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²¹those registered to the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500.

²²From the sons of Simeon, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²³those registered to the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.

²⁴From the sons of Gad, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²⁵those registered to the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650.

²⁶From the sons of Judah, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²⁷those registered to the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.

²⁸From the sons of Issachar, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²⁹those registered to the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400.

³⁰From the sons of Zebulun, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³¹those registered to the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400.

³²From the sons of Joseph:

From the sons of Ephraim, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³³those registered to the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500.

³⁴And from the sons of Manasseh, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³⁵those registered to the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.

³⁶From the sons of Benjamin, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³⁷those registered to the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.

³⁸From the sons of Dan, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³⁹those registered to the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700.

⁴⁰From the sons of Asher, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ⁴¹those registered to the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500.

⁴²From the sons of Naphtali, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ⁴³those registered to the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400.

⁴⁴These were the men numbered by Moses and Aaron, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. ⁴⁵So all the Israelites twenty years of age or older who could serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. ⁴⁶And all those counted totaled 603,550.

The Exemption of the Levites

⁴⁷The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers. ⁴⁸For the LORD had said to Moses: ⁴⁹“Do not number the tribe of Levi in the census with the other Israelites. ⁵⁰Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.

⁵¹Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death.

⁵²The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, each man in his own camp and under his own standard. ⁵³But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

⁵⁴Thus the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Order of the Camps

¹Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ²“The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it, each man under his standard, with the banners of his family.

³On the east side, toward the sunrise, the divisions of Judah are to camp under their standard:

The leader of the Judahites is Nahshon son of Amminadab, ⁴and his division numbers 74,600.

⁵The tribe of Issachar will camp next to it. The leader of the Issacharites is Nethanel son of Zuar, ⁶and his division numbers 54,400.

⁷Next will be the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the Zebulunites is Eliab son of Helon, ⁸and his division numbers 57,400.

⁹The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Judah is 186,400; they shall set out first.

¹⁰On the south side, the divisions of Reuben are to camp under their standard:

The leader of the Reubenites is Elizur son of Shedeur, ¹¹and his division numbers 46,500.

¹²The tribe of Simeon will camp next to it. The leader of the Simeonites is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, ¹³and his division numbers 59,300.

¹⁴Next will be the tribe of Gad. The leader of the Gadites is Eliasaph son of Deuel, ¹⁵and his division numbers 45,650.

¹⁶The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Reuben is 151,450; they shall set out second.

¹⁷In the middle of the camps, the Tent of Meeting is to travel with the camp of the Levites. They are to set out in the order they encamped, each in his own place under his standard.

¹⁸On the west side, the divisions of Ephraim are to camp under their standard:

The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud, ¹⁹and his division numbers 40,500.

²⁰The tribe of Manasseh will be next to it. The leader of the Manassites is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, ²¹and his division numbers 32,200.

²²Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the Benjamites is Abidan son of Gideoni, ²³and his division numbers 35,400.

²⁴The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Ephraim is 108,100; they shall set out third.

²⁵On the north side, the divisions of Dan are to camp under their standard:

The leader of the Danites is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶and his division numbers 62,700.

²⁷The tribe of Asher will camp next to it. The leader of the Asherites is Pagiel son of Ocran, ²⁸and his division numbers 41,500.

²⁹Next will be the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the Naphtalites is Ahira son of Enan, ³⁰and his division numbers 53,400.

³¹The total number of men in the camp of Dan is 157,600; they shall set out last, under their standards.”

³²These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. The total of those counted in the camps, by their divisions, was 603,550. ³³But the Levites were not counted among the other Israelites, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁴So the Israelites did everything the LORD commanded Moses; they camped under their standards in this way and set out in the same way, each man with his clan and his family.

Testing the Spirits

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.

⁴You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

Love Comes from God

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

⁹This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹⁵If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.

¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹We love because He first loved us.

²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.