KJV ORIGINAL
Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
Count all the people in the community of Israel who are twenty years old and older, organized by their family groups—everyone who is able to serve in the military.
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
God is instructing Moses to take a census of all Israelite men of military age, counting them by their family lines.
📚 Historical Context
This census took place near the end of Israel's 40-year journey in the wilderness, as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. It was the second major census recorded in Numbers (the first was in chapter 1), and it served to count the new generation that would actually possess the land, since the previous generation had died in the wilderness due to their disobedience.
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