Numbers 31
1 The Lord told Moses,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Punish the Midianites because of what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your forefathers in death.”
Avenge the wrongs of the children of Israel on the Madianites, and afterwards thou shalt be added to thy 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.
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.
4 You are to contribute one thousand men from each Israelite tribe.”
Send a thousand of each tribe from all the tribes of the children of Israel to set themselves in array.
5 So one thousand men were chosen from each Israelite tribe, making twelve thousand troops ready for battle.
And they numbered of the thousands of Israel a thousand of [each] tribe, twelve thousands; [these were] 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 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.
7 They attacked the Midianites, as the Lord had told Moses to do, and they killed all the men.
And they set themselves in array against Madian, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew 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.
And they slew 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 slew with the sword Balaam the son of Beor with their [other] slain.
9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took as plunder all their herds, flocks, and possessions.
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.
10 They set fire to all the Midianite towns and camps where they had lived,
And they burnt with fire all their cities in the places of their habitation and they burnt their villages with fire.
11 and carried away all the plunder and loot, including people and animals.
And they took all their plunder, and all their spoils, both 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 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.
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the Israelite leaders went out of the camp to meet them.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the rulers of the synagogue went forth out of the camp to meet them.
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 captains of the host, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds who came from the battle-array.
15 “Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.
And Moses said to them, Why have ye saved every female alive?
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!
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.
17 So go and kill all the boys and every woman who has had slept with a man.
Now then slay every male in all the spoil, slay every woman, who has known the lying with man.
18 Let all the girls who are virgins live. They are yours.
And as for all the captivity of women, who have not known the lying with man, save ye them alive.
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.
And ye 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 ye and your captivity [shall purify yourselves] on the seventh day.
20 Also purify all your clothing garment and anything made of leather, goat's hair, or wood.”
And ye shall purify every garment and every leathern utensil, and all furniture of goat skin, and every wooden vessel.
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:
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.
22 All that's made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—
Beside the gold, and the silver, and the brass, and the iron, and lead, and tin,
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.
every thing that shall pass through the fire shall so be clean, nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sanctification; and whatsoever will not pass through the fire shall pass through 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 ye shall wash your garments, and be clean; and afterwards ye shall come into the camp.
25 The Lord told Moses,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
26 “You, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite family leaders are to take a record of the people and animals that were captured.
Take the sum of the spoils of the captivity both of man and beast, thou and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the families of the congregation.
27 Then divide them between the troops who went into battle and the rest of the Israelites.
And ye shall divide the spoils between the warriors that went out to battle, and the whole congregation.
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 ye 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 ye shall take from their half.
29 Take this from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
And thou shalt give [them] to Eleazar the priest [as] the first-fruits of 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 half belonging to the children of Israel thou shalt 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 thou shalt give them to the Levites that keep the charges in the tabernacle of the Lord.
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had ordered Moses.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 This was the list of plunder remaining that had been looted by the troops: 675,000 sheep,
And that which remained of the spoil which the warriors took, was—of the sheep, six hundred and seventy-five thousand:
33 72,000 cattle,
and oxen, seventy-two thousand:
34 61,000 donkeys,
and asses, sixty-one thousand.
35 and 32,000 virgins.
And persons of women who had not known lying with man, all the souls, thirty-two thousand.
36 This was the half share for those who had gone to fight: 337,500 sheep,
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.
37 with a contribution for the Lord of 675,
And the tribute to the Lord from the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.
38 36,000 cattle, with a Lord's contribution of 72,
And the oxen, six and thirty thousand, and the tribute to the Lord seventy-two.
39 30,500 donkeys, with a Lord's contribution of 61,
And asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, and the tribute to the Lord, sixty-one:
40 and 16,000 people, with a Lord's contribution of 32.
and the persons, sixteen thousand, and the tribute of them to the Lord, thirty-two souls.
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 tribute to the Lord, the heave-offering of God, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses;
42 The Israelites' half share left after Moses had given the half share to the troops who had gone to fight,
from the half belonging to the children of Israel, whom Moses separated from the men of war.
43 consisted of: 337,500 sheep,
And the half [taken] from the sheep, belonging to the congregation, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.
44 36,000 cattle,
And the oxen, thirty-six thousand;
45 30,500 donkeys,
asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;
46 and 16,000 people.
and persons, sixteen thousand.
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.
And Moses took of the half belonging to the children of Israel the fiftieth 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.
48 The army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came to Moses
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,
49 and told him, “We, your servants, have checked the troops we command and not a single man is missing.
Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war with us, and not one is missing.
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 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.
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them all the objects made out of gold.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even every wrought article.
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 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.
53 (The men who had fought in the battle had each taken plunder for himself.)
For the men of war took plunder every one for himself.
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.
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.
