Numbers 31

1 The Lord told Moses,

Then the Lord said to Moses,

2 “Punish the Midianites because of what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your forefathers in death.”

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 Moses instructed the people, “Have some of your men get ready for battle, so they can go and attack the Midianites and carry out the Lord's punishment on them.

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 You are to contribute one thousand men from each Israelite tribe.”

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

5 So one thousand men were chosen from each Israelite tribe, making twelve thousand troops ready for battle.

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

6 Moses sent them into battle, one thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest. He carried with him the holy objects from the sanctuary and the trumpets used for giving signals.

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 They attacked the Midianites, as the Lord had told Moses to do, and they killed all the men.

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

8 Among those killed were the five kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam, son of Beor, 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 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took as plunder all their herds, flocks, and possessions.

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 They set fire to all the Midianite towns and camps where they had lived,

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

11 and carried away all the plunder and loot, including people and animals.

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

12 They brought the prisoners, loot, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the rest of the Israelites where they were camped on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan opposite 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 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the Israelite leaders went out of the camp to meet them.

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 Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who returned 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 “Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.

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

16 “You realize that these were the women seduced the Israelite men, leading them to be unfaithful to the Lord at Peor, following Balaam's advice! That's why the Lord's people suffered from the plague!

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 So go and kill all the boys and every woman who has had slept with a man.

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

18 Let all the girls who are virgins live. They are yours.

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

19 All those of you who killed someone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. Purify yourselves and your prisoners on 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 Also purify all your clothing garment and anything made of leather, goat's hair, or wood.”

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

21 Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone into battle, “These are the legal regulations that the Lord has ordered Moses to be carried out:

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 All that's made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—

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

23 anything that doesn't burn—must be put through fire to make it clean. But it still has to be purified using water of purification. Anything that burns must be put through the water.

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 Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean. Then you can enter 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 The Lord told Moses,

And the Lord said to Moses,

26 “You, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite family leaders are to take a record of the people and animals that were captured.

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 Then divide them between the troops who went into battle and the rest of the Israelites.

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 Take as a contribution to the Lord from what is allocated to the troops who went into battle one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, or 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 Take this from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to 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 From the Israelites; half share, take one out of every fifty people, cattle, donkeys, or sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who take care of the Lord's Tabernacle.”

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 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had ordered Moses.

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

32 This was the list of plunder remaining that had been looted by the troops: 675,000 sheep,

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

33 72,000 cattle,

And seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 61,000 donkeys,

And sixty-one thousand asses;

35 and 32,000 virgins.

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

36 This was the half share for those who had gone to fight: 337,500 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 with a contribution for the Lord of 675,

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

38 36,000 cattle, with a Lord's contribution of 72,

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

39 30,500 donkeys, with a Lord's contribution of 61,

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

40 and 16,000 people, with a Lord's contribution of 32.

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

41 Moses gave the contribution to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord as the Lord had ordered Moses.

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 The Israelites' half share left after Moses had given the half share to the troops who had gone to fight,

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

43 consisted of: 337,500 sheep,

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

44 36,000 cattle,

And thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 30,500 donkeys,

And thirty thousand, five hundred asses,

46 and 16,000 people.

And sixteen thousand persons; )

47 Moses took from the Israelites' half one out of every fifty people and animals and gave them the Levites who take care of the Lord's Tabernacle, as the Lord had ordered him.

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 The army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came to Moses

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

49 and told him, “We, your servants, have checked the troops we command and not a single man is missing.

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 So we have brought the Lord an offering of the gold objects each man received—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—in order that we may be right before the Lord.”

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 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them all the objects made out of gold.

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

52 The gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds gave as an offering to the Lord weighed in total 16,750 shekels.

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 (The men who had fought in the battle had each taken plunder for himself.)

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

54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and took it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial offering for the Israelites in the presence of 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.