Numbers 26:2
“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by the houses of their fathers — all those twenty years of age or older who can serve in the army of Israel.”
What it says
The LORD commands a census of the whole congregation by ancestral houses, counting men twenty years old and upward who can serve in Israel’s army.
What it is doing
It states the scope and purpose of the census.
In context
1After the plague had ended, the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, 2“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by the houses of their fathers — all those twenty years of age or older who can serve in the army of Israel.” 3So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest issued the instruction, 4“Take a census of the men twenty years of age or older, as the LORD has commanded Moses.”