1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Make two trumpets from hammered silver. You will use them to call the community together and to signal when the camps should move out.
3When both trumpets are blown, the entire community must gather with you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
4If only one trumpet is blown, then only the leaders, the heads of the thousands of Israel, should gather with you.
5When you blow a short, sharp blast, the camps on the east side will start moving.
6When you blow a short, sharp blast a second time, the camps on the south side will start moving. This short blast will signal them for their journeys.
7But when the community needs to gather, you should blow the trumpets with a long, steady sound, not a short alarm blast.
8“Aaron’s sons, the priests, must blow the trumpets. This rule is to be a permanent law for you and your descendants.
9When you go to war in your land against an enemy who is oppressing you, you must sound an alarm with the trumpets. Then Yahweh your God will remember you, and you will be saved from your enemies.
10“Also, on your joyful days, at your appointed festivals, and at the beginning of each month, you must blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings. They will serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am Yahweh your God.”
11In the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud lifted from above the Tabernacle of the Testimony.
12The people of Israel traveled in stages from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud stopped in the wilderness of Paran.
13They started their journey for the first time exactly as Yahweh had commanded through Moses.
14First, the flag of the camp of Judah went forward with its divisions. Nahshon, son of Amminadab, was in charge of his division.
15Nethanel, son of Zuar, was in charge of the division of the tribe of Issachar.
16Eliab, son of Helon, was in charge of the division of the tribe of Zebulun.
17Then the Tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the Tabernacle, moved forward.
18Next, the flag of the camp of Reuben went forward with its divisions. Elizur, son of Shedeur, was in charge of his division.
19Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai, was in charge of the division of the tribe of Simeon.
20Eliasaph, son of Deuel, was in charge of the division of the tribe of Gad.
21Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy items for the sanctuary. The others would set up the Tabernacle before the Kohathites arrived.
22The army of Ephraim, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command, started marching.
23Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was in charge of the army from the tribe of Manasseh.
24Abidan son of Gideoni was in charge of the army from the tribe of Benjamin.
25The army of Dan, which was the rearguard for all the camps, also started marching, each group in its proper order. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was in command of his army.
26Pagiel son of Ochran was in charge of the army from the tribe of Asher.
27Ahira son of Enan was in charge of the army from the tribe of Naphtali.
28This is how the Israelites marched, each group in its own formation, as they moved forward.
29Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, who was Moses' father-in-law, "We are traveling to the place Yahweh promised to give us. Please come with us, and we will treat you well, because Yahweh has promised good things for Israel."
30But Hobab replied, "I will not go; I must return to my own land and my relatives."
31Moses pleaded, "Please don't leave us, because you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can be our guide."
32He added, "If you come with us, then whatever good Yahweh does for us, we will share with you."
33They set out from the mountain of Yahweh and traveled for three days. The ark of Yahweh's covenant went ahead of them for those three days to find a resting place for them.
34The cloud of Yahweh was over them during the day when they moved out from the camp.
35Whenever the ark started moving, Moses would say, "Rise up, Yahweh! Let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you run away from you!"
36And when it stopped, he would say, "Return, Yahweh, to the many thousands of Israel."