Numbers 31

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites; afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy peoples.

“First, avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites, and then you shall be gathered to your people.”

3 And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm from amongst you men for military service, that they go against Midian to execute Jehovah's vengeance upon Midian.

And immediately Moses said: “Arm the men among you for a battle, so that they may be able to fulfill the retribution of the Lord on the Midianites.

4 Of every tribe a thousand, of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.

Let one thousand men be chosen from each tribe of Israel, who shall be sent to war.”

5 And there were levied out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand by tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

And they gave one thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand foot soldiers for battle.

6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand by the tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, and the holy instruments, even the alarm-trumpets in his hand.

And Moses sent them with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest; also, he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.

7 And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah had commanded Moses, and slew all the males.

And when they had fought against the Midianites and had prevailed, they killed all the men.

8 And they slew the kings of Midian, besides the others slain, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

And they put to death by the sword their kings: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five leaders of the nation, and also Balaam the son of Beor.

9 And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took for a spoil all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods;

And they seized their women and little ones, and all their cattle, and all their goods; whatever they were able to have, they despoiled.

10 and all their cities in their settlements and all their encampments they burned with fire.

Both their cities and their villages, as well as their fortresses, they burned.

11 And they took all the booty, and all the prey, of man and of cattle;

And they carried away prey from everything that they had seized, both of men and of beasts.

12 and they brought to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the assembly of the children of Israel, the captives and the prey and the booty, to the camp in the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan of Jericho.

And they led these to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. But the remainder of the articles they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, next to the Jordan, opposite Jericho.

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

Then Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them beyond the camp.

14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the army, with the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war;

And Moses, being angry with the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had arrived from the battle,

15 and Moses said to them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

said: “Why have you spared the females?

16 Lo, these, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the children of Israel to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague on the assembly of Jehovah.

Are not these the ones who deceived the sons of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam, and who caused you betray the Lord by the sin of Peor, because of which the people also were struck down?

17 And now slay every male among the little ones, and slay every woman that hath known man by lying with him,

Therefore, put to death all of them: whatever is of the male sex, even among the little ones, and cut the throats of those women who have known men by sexual relations.

18 but all the children among the women that have not known lying with a man, keep alive for yourselves.

But the young girls, and all female virgins, reserve for yourselves.

19 And encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever hath killed a person, and whoever hath touched any slain; ye shall purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

And remain beyond the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a man, or who has touched one that was killed, shall be purified on the third day and on the seventh day.

20 And every garment, and every vessel of skin, and all work of goat's hair, and every utensil of wood shall ye purify.

And all of the spoils, whether it is a garment, or a vessel, or another useful thing, made from the pelts or hair of goats, or from wood, shall be expiated.”

21 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war that had gone to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

Likewise, Eleazar the priest spoke in this manner to the men of the army who had fought: “This is the precept of the law, which the Lord has commanded Moses:

22 Only the gold, and the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin,

23 everything that passeth through the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; only it shall be purified with the water of separation; and everything that cannot pass through the fire ye shall make go through the water.

and all that may be able to pass through fire, shall be purified by fire. But whatever is not able to sustain fire shall be sanctified with the waters of expiation.

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

And you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and, after having been purified, you shall enter the camp.”

25 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord also said to Moses:

26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, of man and of cattle, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the assembly;

“Take the sum of those things which were captured, from man even to beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the common people.

27 and divide the prey into halves, between them that conducted the war, who went out to the battle, and the whole assembly.

And you shall divide the prey equally, among those who went out to war and fought, and among the remainder of the multitude.

28 And thou shalt levy a tribute for Jehovah of the men of war who went out to the army, one soul of five hundred of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the small cattle.

And you shall separate a portion for the Lord from the portion of those who fought and were in the battle: one soul out of five hundred, as much from humans, as from oxen and donkeys and sheep.

29 Of their half shall ye take it, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave-offering of Jehovah.

And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because these are the first-fruits of the Lord.

30 And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the small cattle, of every [kind of] beasts, and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.

Likewise, from the half of the portion belonging to the sons of Israel, you shall receive the fiftieth head of humans, and of oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and of all living things, and you shall give these to the Levites who stand watch over the care of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

And Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had instructed.

32 And the prey, the rest of the spoil, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

Now the prey which the army had seized was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 and seventy-two thousand oxen,

seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 and sixty-one thousand asses,

sixty-one thousand donkeys,

35 and of human persons, of the women that had not known lying with a man, all the persons were thirty-two thousand.

and thirty-two thousand human lives, of the female sex, who had not known men.

36 And the half, the portion of them that had gone out to the war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

And one half of the portion was given to those who had been in the battle: three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep.

37 and the tribute for Jehovah of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five;

From these, for the portion of the Lord, there were accounted: six hundred seventy-five sheep;

38 and the oxen were thirty-six thousand, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, seventy-two;

and from the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen;

39 and the asses were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, sixty-one;

from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, sixty-one donkeys.

40 and the human persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the tribute for Jehovah was thirty-two persons.

From the sixteen thousand human souls, there fell to the portion of the Lord thirty-two souls.

41 And Moses gave the tribute of Jehovah's heave-offering to Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

And Moses delivered the number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as had been commanded of him,

42 And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses had divided, [taking it] from the men that served in the war,

from the one half portion belonging to the sons of Israel, which he had separated from the portion of those who had been in the battle.

43 (now the half belonging to the assembly was of the sheep, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred,

Yet truly, from the one half portion which fell to the remainder of the multitude, that is, from the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

44 and thirty-six thousand oxen,

and from the thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 and thirty thousand five hundred asses,

and from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,

46 and sixteen thousand human persons, )

and from the sixteen thousand persons,

47 ...of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, of man and of cattle, and gave them to the Levites who kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites who stand watch at the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had instructed.

48 And the officers who were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses,

And when the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions had approached Moses, they said:

49 and they said to Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war who were under our hand, and there is not one man of us lacking.

“We, your servants, have taken a census of the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and indeed not one was lacking.

50 So we present the offering of Jehovah, that which each one hath found, jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.

For this reason, we offer as gifts to the Lord whatever gold each one was able to find amid the spoils, in anklets and arm bands, rings and bracelets, and little chains, so that you may intercede for us to the Lord.”

51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, all manner of wrought jewels.

And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in its various kinds,

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

weighing sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels, from the tribunes and the centurions.

53 (The men of war had taken spoil each one for himself.)

For whatever each one had taken away in the spoils was his own.

54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.

And having been accepted, they took it into the tabernacle of the testimony, as a memorial of the sons of Israel before the Lord.