Numbers 31

1 The Lord told Moses,

And Jehovah 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 children of Israel upon the Midianites; afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy peoples.

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 from amongst you men for military service, that they go against Midian to execute Jehovah's vengeance upon Midian.

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

Of every tribe a thousand, of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.

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

And there were levied out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand by tribe, twelve thousand 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 to the war, a thousand by the tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, and the holy instruments, even the alarm-trumpets in his hand.

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

And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah had commanded Moses, and slew all the males.

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 Midian, besides the others slain, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

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

And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took for a spoil all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods;

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

and all their cities in their settlements and all their encampments they burned with fire.

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

And they took all the booty, and all the prey, of man and of cattle;

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 Eleazar the priest, and to the assembly of the children of Israel, the captives and the prey and the booty, to the camp in the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan of 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 princes of the assembly went forth to meet them outside 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 was wroth with the officers of the army, with the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war;

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

and Moses said to them, Have ye saved all the women 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!

Lo, these, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the children of Israel to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague on the assembly of Jehovah.

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

And now slay every male among the little ones, and slay every woman that hath known man by lying with him,

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

but all the children among the women that have not known lying with a man, keep alive 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 encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever hath killed a person, and whoever hath touched any slain; ye shall purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

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

And every garment, and every vessel of skin, and all work of goat's hair, and every utensil of wood shall ye purify.

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 war that had gone to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

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

Only the gold, and the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the 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.

everything that passeth through the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; only it shall be purified with the water of separation; and everything that cannot pass through the fire ye shall make go through the water.

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

And ye shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterwards ye may come into the camp.

25 The Lord told Moses,

And Jehovah 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 prey that was taken, of man and of cattle, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the assembly;

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

and divide the prey into halves, between them that conducted the war, who went out to the battle, and the whole assembly.

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 thou shalt levy a tribute for Jehovah of the men of war who went out to the army, one soul of five hundred of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the small cattle.

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

Of their half shall ye take it, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave-offering of Jehovah.

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 of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the small cattle, of every [kind of] beasts, and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.

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

And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

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

And the prey, the rest of the spoil, which the men of war had taken, was 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 of human persons, of the women that had not known lying with a man, all the persons were thirty-two thousand.

36 This was the half share for those who had gone to fight: 337,500 sheep,

And the half, the portion of them that had gone out to the war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

37 with a contribution for the Lord of 675,

and the tribute for Jehovah of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five;

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

and the oxen were thirty-six thousand, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, seventy-two;

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

and the asses were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, sixty-one;

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

and the human persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the tribute for Jehovah 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 tribute of Jehovah's heave-offering to Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

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

And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses had divided, [taking it] from the men that served in the war,

43 consisted of: 337,500 sheep,

(now the half belonging to the assembly was of the sheep, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred,

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 human 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.

...of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, of man and of cattle, and gave them to the Levites who kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

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

And the officers who were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses,

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

and they said to Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war who were under our hand, and there is not one man of us 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.”

So we present the offering of Jehovah, that which each one hath found, jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.

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 of them, all manner of wrought jewels.

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 gold of the heave-offering that they offered to Jehovah was sixteen thousand 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.)

(The men of war had taken spoil each 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 of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.