Numbers 10

The Two Silver Trumpetsⓘ

The two silver trumpets¹Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out. ³When both are sounded, the whole congregation is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁴But if only one is sounded, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, are to gather before you.

⁵When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out. ⁶When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out. ⁷To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones. ⁸The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. This shall be a permanent statute for you and the generations to come.

⁹When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God and saved from your enemies. ¹⁰And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

From Sinai to Paranⓘ

Israel sets out from Sinai in order¹¹On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony, ¹²and the Israelites set out from the Wilderness of Sinai, traveling from place to place until the cloud settled in the Wilderness of Paran. ¹³They set out this first time according to the Lordʼs command through Moses.

¹⁴First, the divisions of the camp of Judah set out under their standard, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command. ¹⁵Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar, ¹⁶and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. ¹⁷Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.

¹⁸Then the divisions of the camp of Reuben set out under their standard, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command. ¹⁹Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon, ²⁰and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. ²¹Then the Kohathites set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.

²²Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command. ²³Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, ²⁴and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.

²⁵Finally, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out under their standard, serving as the rear guard for all units, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command. ²⁶Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher, ²⁷and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali.

²⁸This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out.

Moses asks Hobab to guide them²⁹Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Mosesʼ father-in-law Reuel^a the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”

³⁰“I will not go,” Hobab replied. “Instead, I am going back to my own land and my own people.”

³¹“Please do not leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes. ³²If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the Lord gives us.”

The ark leads; Moses' prayers³³So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the Lord, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them. ³⁴And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,

³⁶And when it came to rest, he would say: