“Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp.
And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.
When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out.
And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out.
But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not sound an alarm.
And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.
On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”
In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony,
and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.
They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses.
The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies, and over their company was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.
And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out.
And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was Elizur the son of Shedeur.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.
And the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was Elishama the son of Ammihud.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.
Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.
This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out.
And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.”
And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us.
And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.”
So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.
And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.
And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.”
And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”
And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down.
So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat!
We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.
Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.
The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil.
When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased.
Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?
Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers?
I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.
And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone.
And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt. Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, Why did we come out of Egypt?’”
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ESV® Permanent Text Edition (2016). The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers.
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