Numbers 31

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then the Lord said to Moses,

2 Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.

Give the Midianites punishment for the wrong they did to the children of Israel: and after that you will go to rest with your people.

3 And Moses forthwith said: Arm of you men to fight, who may take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.

So Moses said to the people, Let men from among you be armed for war to put into effect against Midian the Lord's punishment on them.

4 Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to the war.

From every tribe of Israel send a thousand to the war.

5 And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve thousand men well appointed for battle.

So from the thousands of Israel a thousand were taken from every tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war.

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

And Moses sent them out to war, a thousand from every tribe, and with them Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, taking in his hands the vessels of the holy place and the horns for sounding the note of war.

7 And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew all the men.

And they made war on Midian, as the Lord gave orders to Moses; and they put to death every male.

8 And their kings Evi, and Recem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, five princes of the nation: Balaam also the son of Beer they killed with the sword.

They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword.

9 And they took their women, and their children captives, and all their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they plundered:

The women of Midian with their little ones the children of Israel took prisoner; and all their cattle and flocks and all their goods they took for themselves;

10 And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they burned.

And after burning all their towns and all their tent-circles,

11 And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken both of men and of beasts.

They went away with the goods they had taken, man and beast.

12 And they brought them to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the children of Israel. But the rest of the things for use they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan over against Jericho.

And the prisoners and the goods and everything they had taken, they took to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the people of Israel, to the tent-circle in the lowlands of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the synagogue went forth to meet them without the camp.

Then Moses and Eleazar the priest and the chiefs of the people went out to them before they had come into the tent-circle.

14 And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,

And Moses was angry with the chiefs of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come back from the war.

15 Said: Why have you saved the women?

And Moses said to them, Why have you kept all the women safe?

16 Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel by the counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the sin of Phogor, for which also the people was punished?

It was these who, moved by Balaam, were the cause of Israel's sin against the Lord in the question of Peor, because of which disease came on the people of the Lord.

17 Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.

So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man.

18 But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for yourselves:

But all the female children who have had no sex relations with men, you may keep for yourselves.

19 And stay without the camp seven days. He that hath killed a man, or touched one that is killed, shall be purified the third day and the seventh day.

You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.

20 And of all the spoil, every garment, or vessel, or any thing made for use, of the skins, or hair of goats, or of wood, shall be purified.

And every bit of clothing, and anything made of leather or goats' hair or wood, you are to make clean.

21 Eleazar also the priest spoke to the men of the army, that had fought, in this manner: This is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord hath commanded Moses:

Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had been to the fight, This is the rule of the law which the Lord has given to Moses:

22 Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lend, and tin,

But gold and silver and brass and iron and tin and lead,

23 And all that may pass through the fire, shall be purified by fire, but whatsoever cannot abide the fire, shall be sanctified with the water of expiation:

And anything which may be heated, is to go through the fire and be made clean; but in addition it is to be put in the water of cleaning: and anything which may not go through the fire is to be put in the water.

24 And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being purified, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.

And on the seventh day, after washing your clothing, you will be clean, and then you may come into the tent-circle.

25 And the Lord said to Moses:

And the Lord said to Moses,

26 Take the sum of the things that were taken both of man and beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the multitude:

Get an account of everything which was taken in the war, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of families of the people:

27 And thou shalt divide the spoil equally, between them that fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.

And let division be made of it into two parts, one for the men of war who went out to the fight, and one for all the people:

28 And thou shalt separate a portion to the Lord from them that fought and were in the battle, one soul of five hundred as well of persons as of oxen and asses and sheep.

And from the men of war who went out let there be offered to the Lord one out of every five hundred, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep:

29 And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the firstfruits of the Lord.

Take this from their part and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to be lifted up to the Lord.

30 Out of the moiety also of the children of Israel thou shalt take the fiftieth head of persons, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and of all beasts, and thou shalt give them to the Levites that watch in the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

And from the part given to the children of Israel, take one out of every fifty, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep, and give it to the Levites who have the care of the House of the Lord.

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

So Eleazar and Moses did as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

32 And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,

Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 Seventy-two thousand oxen,

And seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 Sixty-one thousand asses:

And sixty-one thousand asses;

35 And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men.

And thirty-two thousand persons, that is, women who had never had sex relations with a man.

36 And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:

And the half given as their part to the men who went to the war, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

37 Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six hundred seventy-five sheep.

Of which the Lord's part was six hundred and seventy-five.

38 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:

The number of oxen was thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's part was seventy-two;

39 Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:

The number of asses was thirty thousand, five hundred, of which the Lord's part was sixty-one.

40 Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion of the Lord, thirty-two souls.

And the number of persons was sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's part was thirty-two persons.

41 And Moses delivered the number of the firstfruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,

And Moses gave the Lord's part, lifted up as an offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

42 Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated for them that had been in the battle.

And from the half given to the children of Israel, which Moses had kept separate from that given to the fighting-men,

43 But out of the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that is to say, out of the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

(Now the people's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

44 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,

And thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,

And thirty thousand, five hundred asses,

46 And out of the sixteen thousand persons,

And sixteen thousand persons; )

47 Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.

Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

48 And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and centurions were come to Moses, they said:

Then the men in authority over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came to Moses,

49 We thy servants have reckoned up the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was wanting.

And said to him, Your servants have taken note of the number of all the fighting-men under our orders, and every one is present;

50 Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of us could find in the booty, in garters and tablets, rings and bracelets, and chains, that thou mayst pray to the Lord for us.

And we have here an offering for the Lord from what every man took in the war, ornaments of gold, leg-chains and arm-rings, finger-rings, ear-rings, and neck-ornaments, to make our souls free from sin before the Lord.

51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in divers kinds,

So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even all the worked ornaments.

52 In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from the tribunes and from the centurions.

And the gold which the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds gave, as an offering to be lifted up before the Lord, came to sixteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53 For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.

(For every man of the army had taken goods for himself in the war.)

54 And that which was received they brought into the tabernacle of the testimony, for a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.

Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold given by the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and took it into the Tent of meeting, to be a sign in memory of the children of Israel before the Lord.