NumbersChapter 10
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1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2"Make two trumpets of hammered silver. Use them to call the people together and to tell the camps to set out. 3When both trumpets are blown, the whole community must gather in front of you. They will meet at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 4But if only one is blown, then only the leaders must gather in front of you. They are the heads of the clans of Israel. 5When you blow short blasts, the camps on the east side must set out. 6When you blow short blasts a second time, the camps on the south side must set out. The short blasts tell them to set out. 7To call the people together, blow long blasts, not short ones. 8The sons of Aaron, the priests, must blow the trumpets. This is a rule for you and your children's children forever. 9When you go to battle in your land against an enemy who attacks you, blow short blasts on the trumpets. Then the LORD your God will remember you, and you will be saved from your enemies. 10Also blow the trumpets on your happy days, your set feasts, and the first day of each month. Blow them over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. They will be a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God." 11It was the twentieth day of the second month of the second year. On that day the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. 12And the Israelites set out from the Wilderness of Sinai. They traveled from place to place until the cloud stopped in the Wilderness of Paran. 13This was the first time they set out. They did it as the LORD commanded through Moses. 14The groups from the camp of Judah set out first under their flag. Nahshon son of Amminadab led them. 15Nethanel son of Zuar led the group from the tribe of Issachar. 16Eliab son of Helon led the group from the tribe of Zebulun. 17Then the tabernacle was taken down. The Gershonites and the Merarites set out, carrying it. 18Then the groups from the camp of Reuben set out under their flag. Elizur son of Shedeur led them. 19Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai led the group from the tribe of Simeon. 20Eliasaph son of Deuel led the group from the tribe of Gad. 21Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects. The tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived. 22Next, the groups from the camp of Ephraim set out under their flag. Elishama son of Ammihud led them. 23Gamaliel son of Pedahzur led the group from the tribe of Manasseh. 24Abidan son of Gideoni led the group from the tribe of Benjamin. 25Last of all, the groups from the camp of Dan set out under their flag. They guarded the back for all the groups. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai led them. 26Pagiel son of Ocran led the group from the tribe of Asher. 27Ahira son of Enan led the group from the tribe of Naphtali. 28This was the order the Israelite groups marched in when they set out. 29Then Moses spoke to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite. Reuel was Moses' father-in-law. Moses said, "We are setting out for the place the LORD told us about. He said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well. The LORD has promised good things to Israel." 30"I won't go," Hobab answered. "I'm going back to my own land and my own people." 31"Please don't leave us," Moses said. "You know where we should camp in the wilderness. You can be our eyes. 32If you come with us, we'll share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us." 33So they set out from the mountain of the LORD and traveled for three days. The ark of the LORD's covenant went ahead of them for those three days. It went to find a place for them to rest. 34And the LORD's cloud was over them by day when they set out from the camp. 35Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,
"Rise up, LORD!
May your enemies be scattered.
May those who hate you run away from you." 36And when the ark stopped, he would say,
"Return, LORD,
to the countless thousands of Israel."