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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took as plunder all their herds, flocks, and possessions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who returned from the battle.

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

15 “Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.

said: “Why have you spared the females?

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!

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

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

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

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 Also purify all your clothing garment and anything made of leather, goat's hair, or wood.”

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 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:

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

Gold, and silver, and brass, and 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.

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 Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean. Then you can enter the camp.”

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

25 The Lord told Moses,

And the Lord also 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.

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

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

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 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 Take this from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.

And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because these are 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.”

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

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

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

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

33 72,000 cattle,

seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 61,000 donkeys,

sixty-one thousand donkeys,

35 and 32,000 virgins.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the sixteen thousand human souls, there fell to the portion of 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 delivered the number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as had been commanded of him,

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

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 consisted of: 337,500 sheep,

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 36,000 cattle,

and from the thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 30,500 donkeys,

and from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,

46 and 16,000 people.

and from the 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.

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

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

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

“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 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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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