Numbers 26 - Easy To Read Version

¹ After the great sickness, the Lord spoke to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest.

² He said, “Count the people of Israel. Count all the men who are 20 years old or older and list them by families. These are the men who are able to serve in the army of Israel.”

³ At this time the people were camped in the Jordan Valley in Moab. This was near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to the people. They said,

⁴ “You must count every man who is 20 years old or older. The Lord gave Moses this command.” Here is the list of the people of Israel that came out of Egypt:

⁵ These are the people from Reuben’s family. (Reuben was the firstborn [318] son of Israel (Jacob).)} The families were:

⁶ Hezron—the Hezronite family. Carmi—the Carmite family.

⁷ Those were the families in Reuben’s family group. There was a total of 43,730 men.

⁸ Pallu’s son was Eliab.

⁹ Eliab had three sons—Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Remember, Dathan and Abiram were the two leaders that turned against Moses and Aaron. They followed Korah when Korah turned against the Lord.

¹⁰ That was the time when the earth opened and swallowed Korah and all of his followers. And 250 men died! That was a warning to all the people of Israel.

¹¹ But the other people who were from the family of Korah did not die.

¹² These are the families from Simeon’s family group:

¹³ Zerah—the Zerahite family. Shaul—the Shaulite family.

¹⁴ Those were the families in Simeon’s family group. There was a total of 22,200 men.

¹⁵ These are the families in Gad’s family group:

¹⁶ Ozni—the Oznite family. Eri—the Erite family.

¹⁷ Arodi—the Arodite family. Areli—the Arelite family.

^18-20 Those were the families in Gad’s family group. There was a total of 40,500 men.

²¹ These are the families from Perez:

²² Those were the families from Judah’s family group. The total number of men was 76,500.

²³ The families in Issachar’s family group were:

²⁴ Jashub—the Jashubite family. Shimron—the Shimronite family.

²⁵ Those were the families from Issachar’s family group. The total number of men was 64,300.

²⁶ The families in Zebulun’s family group were:

²⁷ Those were the families from Zebulun’s family group. The total number of men was 60,500.

²⁸ Joseph’s two sons were Manasseh and Ephraim. Each son became a family group with its own families.

²⁹ Manasseh’s families were:

³⁰ The families from Gilead were: Iezer—the Iezerite family. Helek—the Helekite family.

³¹ Asriel—the Asrielite family. Shechem—the Shechemite family.

³² Shemida—the Shemidaite family. Hepher—the Hepherite family.

³³ Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. But he had no sons—only daughters. His daughters names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

³⁴ Those are all the families in Manasseh’s family group. The total number of men was 52,700.

³⁵ The families in Ephraim’s family group were:

³⁶ Eran was from Shuthelah’s family. Eran’s family was the Eranite family.

³⁷ Those were the families in Ephraim’s family group. The total number of men was 32,500. Those are all the people who came from Joseph’s family groups.

³⁸ The families in Benjamin’s family group were:

³⁹ Shupham—the Shuphamite family. Hupham—the Huphamite family.

⁴⁰ The families from Bela were: Ard—the Ardite family. Naaman—the Naamanite family.

⁴¹ Those were all the families in Benjamin’s family group. The total number of men was 45,600.

⁴² The families in Dan’s family group were:

⁴³ There were many families in the Shuhamite family group. The total number of men was 64,400.

⁴⁴ The families in Asher’s family group were:

⁴⁵ The families from Beriah were: Heber—the Heberite family. Malkiel—the Malkielite family.

⁴⁶ (Asher also had a daughter named Serah.)

⁴⁷ Those were the families in Asher’s family group. The total number of men was 53,400.

⁴⁸ The families from Naphtali’s family group were:

⁴⁹ Jezer—the Jezerite family. Shillem—the Shillemite family.

⁵⁰ Those were the families from Naphtali’s family group. The total number of men was 45,400.

⁵¹ So the total number of men of Israel was 601,730.

⁵² The Lord said to Moses,

⁵³ “The land will be divided and given to these people. Each family group will get enough land for all of the people who were counted.

⁵⁴ A large family will get much land, and a small family will get less land. The land that they get will be equal to the number of people who were counted.

⁵⁵ But you must use lots [319] to decide which family gets which part of the land. Each family group will get its share of the land. And that land will be given the name of that family group.

⁵⁶ Land will be given to each family—large and small. And you will throw lots to make the decisions.”

⁵⁷ They also counted Levi’s family group. These are the families from Levi’s family group:

⁵⁸ These are also families from Levi’s family group:

⁵⁹ Amram’s wife was named Jochebed. She was also from Levi’s family group. She was born in Egypt. Amram and Jochebed has two sons, Aaron and Moses. They also had a daughter, Miriam.

⁶⁰ Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

⁶¹ But Nadab and Abihu died. They died because they made an offering to the Lord with fire that was not allowed.

⁶² The total number of men from Levi’s family group was 23,000. But these men were not counted with the other people of Israel. They did not get a share of the land that the Lord gave to the other people.

⁶³ Moses and Eleazar the priest counted all these people. They counted the people of Israel while they were in the Jordan Valley in Moab. This was near the Jordan River across from Jericho.

⁶⁴ Many years before, in the Sinai desert, Moses and Aaron the priest counted the people of Israel. But all those people were dead. None of those people were still alive.

⁶⁵ Why? Because the Lord told those people of Israel that they would all die in the desert. The only two men who were left alive were Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.