He said, "Count the Israelites. 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."
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,
These are the people from the tribe of Reuben. (Reuben was the firstborn son of Israel.) The family groups were: Hanoch—the Hanochite family group; Pallu—the Palluite family group;
Eliab had three sons—Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Remember, Dathan and Abiram were the two leaders who turned against Moses and Aaron. They followed Korah when Korah turned against the Lord.
These are the family groups from the tribe of Simeon: Nemuel—the Nemuelite family group; Jamin—the Jaminite family group; Jakin—the Jakinite family group;
These are the family groups in the tribe of Judah: Shelah—the Shelanite family group; Perez—the Perezite family group; Zerah—the Zerahite family group. (Two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan, died in Canaan.)
The family groups in the tribe of Ephraim were Shuthelah—the Shuthelahite family group; Beker—the Bekerite family group; Tahan—the Tahanite family group.
But you must use lots to decide which tribe gets which part of the land. Each tribe will get its share of the land, and that land will be given the name of that tribe.
They also counted the tribe of Levi. These are the family groups from the tribe of Levi: Gershon—the Gershonite family group; Kohath—the Kohathite family group; Merari—the Merarite family group.
These are also family groups from the tribe of Levi: The Libnite family group; The Hebronite family group; The Mahlite family group; The Mushite family group; The Korahite family group. Amram was from the Kohath family group.
Amram's wife was named Jochebed. She was also from the tribe of Levi. She was born in Egypt. Amram and Jochebed had two sons, Aaron and Moses. They also had a daughter, Miriam.
The total number of men from the tribe of Levi was 23,000. But these men were not counted with the other Israelites. They did not get a share of the land that the Lord gave to the other people.
Moses and Eleazar the priest counted all these people. They counted the Israelites while they were in the Jordan Valley in Moab. This was near the Jordan River across from Jericho.
Many years before, in the Sinai desert, Moses and Aaron the priest counted the Israelites. But all these people were dead. Not one of them was still alive,
because the Lord told them 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.