Numbers 31

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

2 Avenge the wrongs of the children of Israel on the Madianites, and afterwards you shall be added to your people.

“Take vengeance on the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After doing that, you will die and be gathered to your people.”

3 And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm some of you, and set yourselves in array before the Lord against Madian, to inflict vengeance on Madian from the Lord.

So Moses spoke to the people. He said, “Arm some of your men for war so they may go against Midian and carry out Yahweh's vengeance on it.

4 Send a thousand of each tribe from all the tribes of the children of Israel to set themselves in array.

Every tribe throughout Israel must send a thousand soldiers to war.”

5 And they numbered of the thousands of Israel a thousand of [each] tribe, twelve thousands; [these were] armed for war.

So out of Israel's thousands of men, one thousand was provided from each tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war.

6 And Moses sent them away a thousand of every tribe with their forces, and Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: and the holy instruments, and the signal trumpets [were] in their hands.

Then Moses sent them to battle, a thousand from every tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and with some articles from the holy place and the trumpets in his possession for sounding signals.

7 And they set themselves in array against Madian, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they killed every male.

They fought against Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They killed every man.

8 And they killed the kings of Madian together with their slain [subjects]; even Evi and Rocon, and Sur, and Ur, and Roboc, five kings of Madian; and they killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor with their [other] slain.

They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their dead: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor, with the sword.

9 And they made a prey of the women of Madian, and their store, and their cattle, and all their possessions: and they spoiled their forces.

The army of Israel took captive the women of Midian, their children, all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. They took these as plunder.

10 And they burnt with fire all their cities in the places of their habitation and they burnt their villages with fire.

They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps.

11 And they took all their plunder, and all their spoils, both man and beast.

They took all the plunder and prisoners, both people and animals.

12 And they brought to Moses and to Eleazar the priest, and to all the children of Israel, the captives, and the spoils, and the plunder, to the camp to Araboth Moab, which is at Jordan by Jericho.

They brought the prisoners, the plunder, and the captured things to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the community of the people of Israel. They brought these to the camp in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan near Jericho.

13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the rulers of the synagogue went forth out of the camp to meet them.

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

14 And Moses was angry with the captains of the host, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds who came from the battle-array.

But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from battle.

15 And Moses said to them, Why have you saved every female alive?

Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?

16 For they were [the occasion] to the children of Israel by the word of Balaam of their revolting and despising the word of the Lord, because of Phogor; and there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord.

Look, these women caused the people of Israel, through Balaam's advice, to commit sin against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, when the plague spread among Yahweh's community.

17 Now then kill every male in all the spoil, kill every woman, who has known the lying with man.

Now then, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man.

18 And as for all the captivity of women, who have not known the lying with man, save you them alive.

But take for yourselves all the young girls who have never slept with a man.

19 And you shall encamp outside the [great] camp seven days; every one who has slain and who touches a dead body, shall be purified on the third day, and you and your captivity [shall purify yourselves] on the seventh day.

You must camp outside the camp of Israel for seven days. All of you who have killed anyone and or have touched any dead person—you must purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day—you and your prisoners.

20 And you shall purify every garment and every leather utensil, and all furniture of goat skin, and every wooden vessel.

You must purify every garment and everything made of animal hide and goats' hair, and everything made of wood.”

21 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of the host that came from the battle-array, This [is] the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses.

Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to war, “This is a decreed law that Yahweh has given to Moses:

22 Beside the gold, and the silver, and the brass, and the iron, and lead, and tin,

The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead,

23 every thing that shall pass through the fire shall so be clean, nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sanctification; and whatever will not pass through the fire shall pass through water.

and everything that resists fire, you must put it through the fire, and it will become clean. You must then purify those things with the water of cleansing. Whatever cannot go through the fire you must cleanse with that water.

24 And on the seventh day you shall wash your garments, and be clean; and afterwards you shall come into the camp.

You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and then you will become clean. Afterward you may come into Israel's camp.”

25 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

26 Take the sum of the spoils of the captivity both of man and beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the families of the congregation.

“Count all the plundered things that were taken, both people and animals. You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community's ancestor's clans

27 And you shall divide the spoils between the warriors that went out to battle, and the whole congregation.

must divide the plunder into two parts. Divide it between the soldiers who went out to battle and all the rest of the community.

28 And you shall take a tribute for the Lord from the warriors that went out to battle; one soul out of five hundred, from the men, and from the cattle, even from the oxen, and from the sheep, and from the asses; and you shall take from their half.

Then levy a tax to be given to me from the soldiers who went out to battle. This tax must be one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or goats.

29 And you shall give [them] to Eleazar the priest [as] the first fruits of the Lord.

Take this tax from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for an offering to be presented to me.

30 And from the half belonging to the children of Israel you shall take one in fifty from the men, and from the oxen, and from the sheep, and from the asses, and from all the cattle; and you shall give them to the Levites that keep the charges in the tabernacle of the Lord.

Also from the people of Israel's half, you must take one out of every fifty—from the persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give these to the Levites who take care of my tabernacle.”

31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

32 And that which remained of the spoil which the warriors took, was—of the sheep, six hundred and seventy-five thousand:

Now the plunder that remained of what the soldiers had taken was 675,000 sheep,

33 and oxen, seventy-two thousand:

seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 and asses, sixty-one thousand.

sixty-one thousand donkeys,

35 And persons of women who had not known lying with man, all the souls, thirty-two thousand.

and thirty-two thousand women who had never slept with any man.

36 And the half, [even] the portion of them that went out to war, from the number of the sheep, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.

The half that was kept for the soldiers numbered 337,000 sheep.

37 And the tribute to the Lord from the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.

Yahweh's part of the sheep was 675.

38 And the oxen, six and thirty thousand, and the tribute to the Lord seventy-two.

The oxen were thirty-six thousand which Yahweh's tax was seventy-two.

39 And asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, and the tribute to the Lord, sixty-one:

The donkeys were 30,500 from which Yahweh's part was sixty-one.

40 and the persons, sixteen thousand, and the tribute of them to the Lord, thirty-two souls.

The persons were sixteen thousand women of whom Yahweh's tax was thirty-two.

41 And Moses gave the tribute to the Lord, the heave-offering of God, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses;

Moses took the tax that was to be an offering presented to Yahweh. He gave it to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

42 from the half belonging to the children of Israel, whom Moses separated from the men of war.

As for the people of Israel's half that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war—

43 And the half [taken] from the sheep, belonging to the congregation, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.

the community's half was 337,500 sheep,

44 And the oxen, thirty-six thousand;

thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;

30,500 donkeys,

46 and persons, sixteen thousand.

and sixteen thousand women.

47 And Moses took of the half belonging to the children of Israel the fifties part, of men and of cattle, and he gave them to the Levites who keep the charges of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

From the people of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of people and animals. He gave them to the Levites who kept care of Yahweh's tabernacle, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

48 And all those who were appointed to be officers of thousands of the host, captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, approached Moses, and said to Moses,

Then the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds, came to Moses.

49 Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war with us, and not one is missing.

They said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our command, and not one man is missing.

50 And we have brought our gift to the Lord, [every] man who has found an article of gold, whether an armlet, or a chain, or a ring, or a bracelet, or a clasp for hair, to make atonement for us before the Lord.

We have brought Yahweh's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before Yahweh.”

51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even every wrought article.

Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold and all the articles of craftsmanship.

52 And all the wrought gold, even the offering that they offered to the Lord, was sixteen thousand and seven hundred and fifty shekels from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds.

All the gold of the offering that they gave to Yahweh—the offerings from the commanders of thousands and from the captains of hundreds—weighed 16,750 shekels.

53 For the men of war took plunder every one for himself.

Each soldier had taken plunder, each man for himself.

54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and brought the vessels into the tabernacle of witness, a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.

Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and captains of hundreds. They took it into the tent of meeting as a reminder of the people of Israel for Yahweh.