Arrangement of the Camps

1Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own [a]flag, with the banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting [b]at a distance. 3Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the flag of the camp of Judah, by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab, 4and his army, their [c]numbered men: 74,600. 5Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar; and the leader of the sons of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar, 6and his army, their numbered men: 54,400. 7Then follows the tribe of Zebulun; and the leader of the sons of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon, 8and his army, his numbered men: 57,400. 9The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. They shall set out first.

10“On the south side shall be the flag of the camp of Reuben by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11and his army, their numbered men: 46,500. 12And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon; and the leader of the sons of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13and his army, their numbered men: 59,300. 14Then follows the tribe of Gad; and the leader of the sons of Gad: Eliasaph the son of [d]Deuel, 15and his army, their numbered men: 45,650. 16The total of the numbered men of the camp of Reuben: 151,450 by their armies. And they shall set out second.

17“Then the tent of meeting shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place by their flags.

18“On the west side shall be the flag of the camp of Ephraim by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Ephraim: Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19and his army, their numbered men: 40,500. 20Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the leader of the sons of Manasseh: Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21and his army, their numbered men, 32,200. 22Then follows the tribe of Benjamin; and the leader of the sons of Benjamin: Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23and his army, their numbered men, 35,400. 24The total of the numbered men of the camp of Ephraim: 108,100, by their armies. And they shall set out third.

25“On the north side shall be the flag of the camp of Dan by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Dan: Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26and his army, their numbered men: 62,700. 27Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher; and the leader of the sons of Asher: Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28and his army, their numbered men: 41,500. 29Then follows the tribe of Naphtali; and the leader of the sons of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan, 30and his army, their numbered men: 53,400. 31The total of the numbered men of the camp of Dan was 157,600. They shall set out last by their flags.”

32These are the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households; the total of the numbered men of the camps by their armies, 603,550. 33The Levites, however, were not counted among the sons of Israel, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 34So the sons of Israel did all this; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they camped by their flags, and so they set out, everyone by his family according to his father’s household.