Numbers 10:1–36

¹And Jehovah proceeded to speak to Moses, saying:²“Make for yourself two trumpets of silver. You will make them of hammered work, and they must be at your service for convening the assembly and for breaking up the camps.³And they must blow on them both, and the whole assembly must keep their appointment with you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.⁴And if they should blow on just one, the chieftains as heads of the thousands of Israel must also keep their appointment with you.

⁵“And ​YOU​ men must blow a fluctuating blast, and the camps of those camping to the east must pull away.⁶And ​YOU​ must blow a fluctuating blast a second time, and the camps of those camping to the south must pull away. They should blow a fluctuating blast for each time one of them pulls away.

⁷“Now when calling the congregation together, ​YOU​ should blow, but ​YOU​ must not sound a fluctuating blast.⁸And Aaron’s sons, the priests, should blow on the trumpets, and the use of them must serve as a statute for ​YOU​ men to time indefinite during ​YOUR​ generations.

⁹“And in case ​YOU​ should enter into war in ​YOUR​ land against the oppressor who is harassing ​YOU, ​YOU​ must also sound a war call on the trumpets, and ​YOU​ will certainly be remembered before Jehovah ​YOUR​ God and be saved from ​YOUR​ enemies.

¹⁰“And in the day of ​YOUR​ rejoicing and in ​YOUR​ festal seasons and at the commencements of ​YOUR​ months, ​YOU​ must blow on the trumpets over ​YOUR​ burnt offerings and ​YOUR​ communion sacrifices; and their use must serve as a memorial for ​YOU​ before ​YOUR​ God. I am Jehovah ​YOUR​ God.”

¹¹Now it came about that in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day in the month, the cloud lifted itself from over the tabernacle of the Testimony.¹²And the sons of Israel began to pull away in the manner of their departures from the wilderness of Si′nai, and the cloud proceeded to reside in the wilderness of Pa′ran.¹³And they began pulling away for the first time, according to the order of Jehovah by means of Moses.

¹⁴So the [three‐tribe] division of the camp of the sons of Judah pulled away first of all in their armies, and Nah′shon the son of Am‧min′a‧dab was over its army.¹⁵And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Is′sa‧char there was Ne‧than′el the son of Zu′ar.¹⁶And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Zeb′u‧lun there was E‧li′ab the son of He′lon.

¹⁷And the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Ger′shon and the sons of Me‧rar′i as carriers of the tabernacle pulled away.

¹⁸And the [three‐tribe] division of the camp of Reu′ben pulled away in their armies, and E‧li′zur the son of Shed′e‧ur was over its army.¹⁹And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Sim′e‧on there was She‧lu′mi‧el the son of Zu‧ri‧shad′dai.²⁰And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Gad there was E‧li′a‧saph the son of Deu′el.

²¹And the Ko′hath‧ites as carriers of the sanctuary pulled away, as they will have set up the tabernacle by the time of their coming.

²²And the [three‐tribe] division of the camp of the sons of E′phra‧im pulled away in their armies, and E‧lish′a‧ma the son of Am‧mi′hud was over its army.²³And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Ma‧nas′seh there was Ga‧ma′li‧el the son of Pe‧dah′zur.²⁴And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin there was Ab′i‧dan the son of Gid‧e‧o′ni.

²⁵And the [three‐tribe] division of the camp of the sons of Dan pulled away as forming the rear guard for all the camps in their armies, and A‧hi‧e′zer the son of Am‧mi‧shad′dai was over its army.²⁶And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Ash′er there was Pa′gi‧el the son of Och′ran.²⁷And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Naph′ta‧li there was A‧hi′ra the son of E′nan.²⁸In this manner were the departures of the sons of Israel in their armies when they would pull away.

²⁹Then Moses said to Ho′bab the son of Reu′el the Mid′i‧an‧ite, the father‐in‐law of Moses: “We are pulling away for the place about which Jehovah said, ‘I shall give it to ​YOU.’ Do come with us, and we shall certainly do good to you, because Jehovah has spoken good concerning Israel.”³⁰But he said to him: “I shall not go along, but I shall go to my own country and to my relatives.”³¹At this he said: “Please, do not leave us, because, for the reason that you well know where we may encamp in the wilderness, you must serve as eyes for us.³²And it must occur that in case you should come with us, yes, it must occur that with what goodness Jehovah will do good with us, we, in turn, will do good to you.”

³³So they went marching from the mountain of Jehovah for a journey of three days, and the ark of Jehovah’s covenant was marching before them for a journey of three days to search out a resting‐place for them.³⁴And Jehovah’s cloud was over them by day at their marching out from the encampment.

³⁵And it would occur that when the Ark would set out, Moses would say: “Do arise, O Jehovah, and let your enemies be scattered; and let those who intensely hate you flee from before you.”³⁶And when it would rest, he would say: “Do return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of thousands of Israel.”