Numbers 31
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
2 Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.
Exact thou the avenging of the sons of Israel, from the Midianites, —and, afterwards, shalt thou be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk.
3 And Moses forthwith said: Arm of you men to fight, who may take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.
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 Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to the war.
A thousand from each tribe, —of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send forth unto the war.
5 And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve thousand men well appointed for battle.
And there volunteered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of each tribe, —twelve thousand, 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 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 And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew all the men.
So they made war upon Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses, and slew 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.
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 And they took their women, and their children captives, and all their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they plundered:
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 And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they burned.
all their cities also in their sites, and all their encampments, burned they up with fire.
11 And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken both of men and of beasts.
Then took they all the spoil, and all the booty, —both of 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 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 and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the synagogue went forth to meet them without 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 And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come 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 Said: Why have you saved the women?
And Moses said unto them, —Have ye saved alive every female?
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?
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 Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.
Now, therefore, slay ye every male among the young, —every woman also that hath cohabited with man, slay ye.
18 But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for yourselves:
But all the young of womankind that have, not cohabited with man, preserve alive 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lend, and tin,
Surely the gold and the silver, —the bronze the iron, the tin and the 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:
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 And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being purified, you shall afterwards enter into 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 And the Lord said to Moses:
Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
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:
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 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 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 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.
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 And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the firstfruits of 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 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 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 And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.
32 And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand 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 Seventy-two thousand oxen,
and, of the herd, seventy-two thousand;
34 Sixty-one thousand asses:
and, of the asses, sixty-one thousand;
35 And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men.
and, of the human persons, even of the woman-kind who had not cohabited with man, —all the persons, thirty-two thousand.
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, 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 Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six hundred seventy-five sheep.
and so, the tribute unto Yahweh, out of the flock, was—six hundred and seventy-five;
38 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:
and the herd, thirty-six thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh—seventy-two;
39 Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:
and the asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, sixty-one;
40 Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion of the Lord, thirty-two souls.
and the human persons, sixteen thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, 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 tribute—the heave-offering of Yahweh, unto Eleazar the priest, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.
42 Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated for them that had been in the battle.
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 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,
the half allotted unto the assembly, was—of the flock, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, and five hundred;
44 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,
and, of the herd, six and thirty thousand;
45 And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,
and, of asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;
46 And out of the sixteen thousand persons,
and, human persons, sixteen thousand.
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.
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 And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and centurions were come to Moses, they said:
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 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 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 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.
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 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in divers kinds,
So Moses, and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, —all the wrought articles.
52 In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from the tribunes and from the centurions.
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 For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.
The men of the host, had taken prey, each man for himself.
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.
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.
