World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Numbers 4
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1 spoke to and to , saying, "Take a census of the sons of from among the , by their families, by their fathers' houses, from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the to do the work in the . "This is the of the sons of in the , regarding the most things. When the camp moves forward, shall go in with his sons; and they shall take down of the screen, cover the with it, put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles. "On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it. They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles. "They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of , its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame. "On the golden they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles. "They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in , and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame. "They shall take away the from the , and spread a purple cloth on it. They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the ; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles. "When and his sons have finished covering and all the furniture of , as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch , lest they . The sons of shall carry these things belonging to the . "The duty of the son of the priest shall be the oil for , the , the continual , and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the , and of all that is in it, , and its furnishings." 17 spoke to and to , saying, "Don't the tribe of the families of the from among the ; but do this to them, that they may live, and not , when they approach the most things: and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his and to his burden; but they shall not go in to see even for a moment, lest they ." 21 spoke to , saying, "Take a census of the sons of also, by their fathers' houses, by their families; you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old: all who enter in to wait on the , to do the work in the . "This is the of the families of the , in and in bearing burdens: they shall carry the curtains of the and the , its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the , the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the of the court which is by the and around the , their cords, and all the instruments of their , and whatever shall be done with them. They shall in there. At the of and his sons shall be all the of the sons of the , in all their burden and in all their ; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities. This is the of the families of the sons of the in the . Their duty shall be under the hand of the son of the priest. "As for the sons of , you shall count them by their families, by their fathers' houses; you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who enters on the , to do the work of the . This is the duty of their burden, according to all their in the : the boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their . You shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name. This is the of the families of the sons of , according to all their in the , under the hand of the son of the priest." 34 and and the princes of counted the sons of the by their families, and by their fathers' houses, from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the for work in the . 36Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty. 37These are those who were counted of the families of the , all who in the , whom and counted according to the of by . 38Those who were counted of the sons of , by their families, and by their fathers' houses, 39from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the for work in the , even those who were counted of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty. 41These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of , all who in the , whom and counted according to the of . 42Those who were counted of the families of the sons of , by their families, by their fathers' houses, 43from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the for work in the , even those who were counted of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred. These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of , whom and counted according to the of by . 46All those who were counted of the whom and and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers' houses, from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of and the work of bearing burdens in the , even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty. According to the of they were counted by , everyone according to his and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as commanded .
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The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.