The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now after the disease was over, the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,
1
After the epidemic the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron,
2 Let all the children of Israel be numbered, by the names of their fathers' families, all those of twenty years old and over who are able to go to war in Israel.
2
"Take a census by families of the whole community of Israel, of all men twenty years old or older who are fit for military service."
3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest gave them the order in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho, saying,
3
Moses and Eleazar obeyed and called together all the men of that age group. They assembled in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:
4 Let all the people of twenty years old and over be numbered, as the Lord has given orders to Moses and the children of Israel who have come out of Egypt.
5 Reuben, the first son of Israel: the sons of Reuben by their families: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites:
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The tribe of Reuben (Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob): the clans of Hanoch, Pallu,
6 Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.
6
Hezron, and Carmi.
7 These are the families of the Reubenites: their number was forty-three thousand, seven hundred and thirty.
7
These clans numbered 43,730 men.
8 And the sons of Pallu, Eliab
8
The descendants of Pallu were Eliab
9 And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram who had a place in the meeting of the people, who together with Korah made an outcry against Moses and Aaron and against the Lord:
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and his sons Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. (These are the Dathan and Abiram who were chosen by the community. They defied Moses and Aaron and joined the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord.
10 And they went down into the open mouth of the earth, together with Korah, when death overtook him and all his band; at the time when two hundred and fifty men were burned in the fire, and they became a sign.
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The ground opened and swallowed them, and they died with Korah and his followers when fire destroyed 250 men; they became a warning to the people.
11 But death did not overtake the sons of Korah.
11
But the sons of Korah were not killed.)
12 The sons of Simeon by their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites: of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites: of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites:
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The tribe of Simeon: the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin,
13 Of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.
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Zerah, and Shaul.
14 These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand, two hundred.
14
These clans numbered 22,200 men.
15 The sons of Gad by their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites: of Haggi, the family of the Haggites: of Shuni, the family of the Shunites:
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The tribe of Gad: the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni,
16 Of Ozni, the family of the Oznites: of Eri, the family of the Erites:
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Ozni, Eri,
17 Of Arod, the family of the Arodites: of Areli, the family of the Arelites.
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Arod, and Areli.
18 These are the families of the sons of Gad as they were numbered, forty thousand, five hundred.
18
These clans numbered 40,500 men.
19 The sons of Judah, Er and Onan: and Er and Onan had come to their death in the land of Canaan.
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The tribe of Judah: the clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. (Two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan, had died in the land of Canaan.)
20 And the sons of Judah by their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelahites: of Perez, the family of the Perezites: of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.
21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.
22 These are the families of Judah as they were numbered, seventy-six thousand, five hundred.
22
These clans numbered 76,500 men.
23 The sons of Issachar by their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites: of Puvah, the family of the Punites:
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The tribe of Issachar: the clans of Tola, Puah,
24 Of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites: of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.
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Jashub, and Shimron.
25 These are the families of Issachar, as they were numbered, sixty-four thousand, three hundred.
25
These clans numbered 64,300 men.
26 The sons of Zebulun by their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites: of Elon, the family of the Elonites: of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.
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The tribe of Zebulun: the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
27 These are the families of the Zebulunites as they were numbered, sixty thousand, five hundred.
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These clans numbered 60,500 men.
28 The sons of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim.
28
The tribes of Joseph, who was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
29 The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: and Machir was the father of Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.
29
The tribe of Manasseh. Machir son of Manasseh was the father of Gilead, and the following clans traced their ancestry to Gilead:
30 These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites: of Helek, the family of the Helekites:
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the clans of Iezer, Helek,
31 And of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites:
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Asriel, Shechem,
32 And of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites: and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.
32
Shemida, and Hepher.
33 And Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, had no sons, but only daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
33
Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
34 These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were fifty-two thousand, seven hundred.
34
These clans numbered 52,700 men.
35 These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites: of Becher, the family of the Becherites: of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.
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The tribe of Ephraim: the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan.
36 And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites:
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The clan of Eran traced its descent from Shuthelah.
37 These are the families of Ephraim as they were numbered, thirty-two thousand, five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph by their families.
37
These clans numbered 32,500 men. These are the clans descended from Joseph.
38 The sons of Benjamin by their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites: of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites: of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites:
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The tribe of Benjamin: the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram,
39 Of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites: and of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.
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Shephupham, and Hupham.
40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites: of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.
40
The clans of Ard and Naaman traced their descent from Bela.
41 These are the sons of Benjamin by their families: and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand, six hundred.
41
These clans numbered 45,600 men.
42 These are the sons of Dan by their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan by their families.
42
The tribe of Dan: the clan of Shuham,
43 All the families of the Shuhamites, as they were numbered, were sixty-four thousand, four hundred.
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which numbered 64,400 men.
44 The sons of Asher by their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites: of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites: of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.
44
The tribe of Asher: the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah.
45 Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites: of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites:
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The clans of Heber and Malchiel traced their descent from Beriah.
46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.
46
Asher had a daughter named Serah.
47 These are the families of the sons of Asher as they were numbered, fifty-three thousand, four hundred.
47
These clans numbered 53,400 men.
48 The sons of Naphtali by their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites: of Guni, the family of the Gunites:
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The tribe of Naphtali: the clans of Jahzeel, Guni,
49 Of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites: of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.
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Jezer, and Shillem.
50 These are the families of Naphtali by their families: and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand, four hundred.
50
These clans numbered 45,400 men.
51 Those who were numbered of the children of Israel were six hundred and one thousand, seven hundred and thirty.
51
The total number of the Israelite men was 601,730.
52 And the Lord said to Moses,
52
The Lord said to Moses,
53 Let there be a division of the land among these, for their heritage, in relation to the number of names.
53
"Divide the land among the tribes, according to their size.
54 To those families who are more in number, give a greater heritage; to those who are less in number, a smaller part: to every one let the heritage be given in relation to the number in his family.
54
Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe."
55 But let the distribution of the land be made by the decision of the Lord: by the names of the tribes of their fathers let their heritage be given them.
56 As it is ordered by the decision of the Lord, let distribution be made between those who are more in number and those who are less.
57 These were those of the Levites who were numbered by their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.
57
The tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
58 These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.
58
Their descendants included the subclans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram,
59 Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom he had in Egypt: by Amram she had Moses and Aaron and their sister Miriam.
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who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam.
60 Aaron's sons were Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
60
Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
61 Death overtook Nadab and Abihu when they made an offering of strange fire before the Lord.
61
Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire to the Lord.
62 Of these, twenty-three thousand males, from one month old and over, were numbered: they were not numbered with the rest of the children of Israel, for they had no heritage among the children of Israel.
62
The male Levites who were one month old or older numbered 23,000. They were listed separately from the rest of the Israelites, because they were not given any property in Israel.
63 All these were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when the children of Israel were numbered in the lowlands of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
63
All these clans were listed by Moses and Eleazar when they took a census of the Israelites in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.
64 But among all these was not one of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when the children of Israel were numbered in the waste land of Sinai.
64
There was not even one man left among those whom Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in the Sinai Desert.
65 For the Lord had said of them, Death will certainly overtake them in the waste land. And of them all, only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun, were still living.
65
The Lord had said that all of them would die in the wilderness, and except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they all did.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.