Numbers 31

1 And the LORD said to Moses,

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

Exact thou the avenging of the sons of Israel, from the Midianites, —and, afterwards, shalt thou be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk.

3 So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them.

So Moses spake unto the people saying, Arm ye from among you men, for the war, and let them go against Midian, to render the avenging of Yahweh upon Midian.

4 Send into battle a thousand men from each tribe of Israel.”

A thousand from each tribe, —of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send forth unto the war.

5 So a thousand men were recruited from each tribe of Israel—twelve thousand armed for war.

And there volunteered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of each tribe, —twelve thousand, armed for war.

6 And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

And Moses sent them a thousand of each tribe to the war, —them, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary, and the alarm trumpets, in his hand.

7 Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.

So they made war upon Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses, and slew every male:

8 Among the slain were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

and the kings of Midian, slew they besides their other slain namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian, —Balaam also, son of Beor, slew they with the sword.

9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.

And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, —all their cattle also and all their flocks and all their substance, carried they off as a prey;

10 Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments,

all their cities also in their sites, and all their encampments, burned they up with fire.

11 and carried away all the plunder and spoils, both people and animals.

Then took they all the spoil, and all the booty, —both of man and beast;

12 They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

and brought in unto Moses and unto Eleazar the priest and unto the assembly of the sons of Israel—the captives and the booty, and the spoil unto the camp, —unto the waste plains of Moab, which are by Jordan, near Jericho.

13 And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

And Moses, and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the assembly, went forth to meet them, —unto the outside of the camp.

14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle.

Then was Moses sore displeased with the officers of the force, —the princes of thousands, and the princes of hundreds who were coming in from the warring host.

15 “Have you spared all the women?” he asked them.

And Moses said unto them, —Have ye saved alive every female?

16 “Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.

Lo! they, became unto the sons of Israel, by the advice of Balaam, the cause of daring acts of treachery against Yahweh, over the affair of Peor, —and then came the plague against the assembly of Yahweh!

17 So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,

Now, therefore, slay ye every male among the young, —every woman also that hath cohabited with man, slay ye.

18 but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man.

But all the young of womankind that have, not cohabited with man, preserve alive for yourselves.

19 All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.

Ye, then, pitch outside the camp, for seven days, —whosoever hath killed a person and whoever hath touched the slain, cleanse yourselves (from sin) on the third day and on the seventh day ye and your captives,

20 And purify every garment and leather good, everything made of goat’s hair, and every article of wood.”

Every garment also, and every article of skin and every thing made of goat’s-hair, and every article of wood, shall ye cleanse (from sin).

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:

Then said Eleazar the priest unto the men of the host, who had been to the war: This, is the statute of the law, which Yahweh hath commanded Moses:

22 Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—

Surely the gold and the silver, —the bronze the iron, the tin and the lead,

23 everything that can withstand the fire—must be put through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must still be purified with the water of purification. And everything that cannot withstand the fire must pass through the water.

whatsoever thing can go into fire, ye shall pass through fire and it shall be clean, only with the water of separation, shall ye cleanse it (from sin). But whatsoever cannot go into fire, ye shall pass through water.

24 On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”

And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and be clean, —and after-wards, shall ye come into the camp.

25 The LORD said to Moses,

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the congregation are to take a count of what was captured, both of man and beast.

Reckon thou up the sum of the booty that was captured, both of man and of beast, —thou and Eleazar the priest, and the ancestral heads of the assembly;

27 Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.

and divide the booty into two parts, between them who took upon them the war, who went out in the host, —and all the [rest of the] assembly.

28 Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.

Then shalt thou levy a tribute unto Yahweh—from the men of war, who went forth in the host, one living thing, out of five hundred, —of the human beings, and of the herd, and of the asses and of the flock:

29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.

out of their half, shall ye take [them], —and thou shall give [them] unto Eleazar the priest as a heave-offering unto Yahweh.

30 From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

And out of the half allotted to the sons of Israel, shalt thou take one allotted portion out of fifty of the human beings, of the herd, of the asses and of the flock of all the cattle, —and shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the habitation of Yahweh.

31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses,

And Moses and Eleazar the priest did, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.

32 and this plunder remained from the spoils the soldiers had taken: 675,000 sheep,

And it came to pass that the booty, over and above the prey which the people of the host had seized, was, —of the flock, six hundred and seventy-five thousand;

33 72,000 cattle,

and, of the herd, seventy-two thousand;

34 61,000 donkeys,

and, of the asses, sixty-one thousand;

35 and 32,000 women who had not slept with a man.

and, of the human persons, even of the woman-kind who had not cohabited with man, —all the persons, thirty-two thousand.

36 This was the half portion for those who had gone to war: 337,500 sheep,

And the half, the share of them who had gone forth in the host, was, —the number of the flock—three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred;

37 including a tribute to the LORD of 675,

and so, the tribute unto Yahweh, out of the flock, was—six hundred and seventy-five;

38 36,000 cattle, including a tribute to the LORD of 72,

and the herd, thirty-six thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh—seventy-two;

39 30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61,

and the asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, sixty-one;

40 and 16,000 people, including a tribute to the LORD of 32.

and the human persons, sixteen thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, thirty-two persons.

41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as an offering for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And Moses gave the tribute—the heave-offering of Yahweh, unto Eleazar the priest, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.

42 From the Israelites’ half, which Moses had set apart from the men who had gone to war,

And, of the half, allotted unto the sons of Israel, —which Moses halved away from the men who had gone out in the host,

43 this half belonged to the congregation: 337,500 sheep,

the half allotted unto the assembly, was—of the flock, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, and five hundred;

44 36,000 cattle,

and, of the herd, six and thirty thousand;

45 30,500 donkeys,

and, of asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;

46 and 16,000 people.

and, human persons, sixteen thousand.

47 From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.

So then Moses took—out of the half belonging to the sons of Israel the allotted portion one out of fifty, of the human beings and of the beasts, —and gave them unto the Levites, the keepers of the charge of the habitation of Yahweh, As Yahweh commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and of hundreds—approached Moses

Then came near unto Moses the officers who belonged unto the thousands of the host, —the princes of thousands and the princes of hundreds;

49 and said, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing.

and said unto Moses, Thy servants have reckoned up the sum of the men of war who are in our hand, —and there is not missed from among us, a man!

50 So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

Therefore have we brought near an offering unto Yahweh, what, each man, hath found—articles of gold, ankle chains and bracelets, rings earrings and buckles, —to put a propitiatory-covering over our souls before Yahweh.

51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them all the articles made out of gold.

So Moses, and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, —all the wrought articles.

52 All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.

And all the gold of the heave-offering which they offered up unto Yahweh, was—sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, —of the princes of thousands, and of the princes of hundreds.

53 Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself.

The men of the host, had taken prey, each man for himself.

54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

So then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the princes of thousands, and hundreds, —and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the sons of Israel before Yahweh.