The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: The Israelites shall camp each with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance.
Camped on the front, or east side: the standard of the division of Judah, troop by troop. Chieftain of the Judites: Nahshon son of Amminadab. His troop, as enrolled: 74,600.
Camping next to it: The tribe of Issachar. Chieftain of the Issacharites: Nethanel son of Zuar. His troop, as enrolled: 54,400. The tribe of Zebulun. Chieftain of the Zebulunites: Eliab son of Helon. His troop, as enrolled: 57,400. The total enrolled in the division of Judah: 186,400, for all troops. These shall march first.
On the south: the standard of the division of Reuben, troop by troop. Chieftain of the Reubenites: Elizur son of Shedeur. His troop, as enrolled: 46,500. Camping next to it: The tribe of Simeon. Chieftain of the Simeonites: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. His troop, as enrolled: 59,300. And the tribe of Gad. Chieftain of the Gadites: Eliasaph son of Reuel. His troop, as enrolled: 45,650. The total enrolled in the division of Reuben: 151,450, for all troops. These shall march second.
Then, midway between the divisions, the Tent of Meeting, the division of the Levites, shall move. As they camp, so they shall march, each in position, by their standards.
On the west: the standard of the division of Ephraim, troop by troop. Chieftain of the Ephraimites: Elishama son of Ammihud. His troop, as enrolled: 40,500. Next to it: The tribe of Manasseh. Chieftain of the Manassites: Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. His troop, as enrolled: 32,200. And the tribe of Benjamin. Chieftain of the Benjaminites: Abidan son of Gideoni. His troop, as enrolled: 35,400. The total enrolled in the division of Ephraim: 108,100 for all troops. These shall march third.
On the north: the standard of the division of Dan, troop by troop. Chieftain of the Danites: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. His troop, as enrolled: 62,700.
Camping next to it: The tribe of Asher. Chieftain of the Asherites: Pagiel son of Ochran. His troop, as enrolled: 41,500. And the tribe of Naphtali. Chieftain of the Naphtalites: Ahira son of Enan. His troop, as enrolled: 53,400. The total enrolled in the division of Dan: 157,600. These shall march last, by their standards.
Those are the enrollments of the Israelites by ancestral houses. The total enrolled in the divisions, for all troops: 603,550. The Levites, however, were not recorded among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Israelites did accordingly; just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they marched, each with his clan according to his ancestral house.
From Parshat Bamidbar. From THE TANAKH: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.