Numbers 31
1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
The Lord told Moses,
2 'Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.'
“Punish the Midianites because of what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your forefathers in death.”
3 And Moses spoke unto the people, saying: 'Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the LORD'S vengeance on Midian.
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.
4 Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.'
You are to contribute one thousand men from each Israelite tribe.”
5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
So one thousand men were chosen from each Israelite tribe, making twelve thousand troops ready for battle.
6 And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
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.
7 And they warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew every male.
They attacked the Midianites, as the Lord had told Moses to do, and they killed all the men.
8 And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
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.
9 And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.
The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took as plunder all their herds, flocks, and possessions.
10 And all their cities in the places wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.
They set fire to all the Midianite towns and camps where they had lived,
11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.
and carried away all the plunder and loot, including people and animals.
12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp, unto the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
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.
13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.
Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the Israelite leaders went out of the camp to meet them.
14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who returned from the battle.
15 And Moses said unto them: 'Have ye saved all the women alive?
“Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to revolt so as to break faith with the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.
“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!
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
So go and kill all the boys and every woman who has had slept with a man.
18 But all the women children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
Let all the girls who are virgins live. They are yours.
19 And encamp ye without the camp seven days; whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.
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.
20 And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood, ye shall purify.'
Also purify all your clothing garment and anything made of leather, goat's hair, or wood.”
21 And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle: 'This is the statute of the law which the LORD hath commanded Moses:
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:
22 Howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
All that's made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—
23 every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sprinkling; and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.
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.
24 And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye may come into the camp.'
Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean. Then you can enter the camp.”
25 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
The Lord told Moses,
26 'Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation;
“You, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite family leaders are to take a record of the people and animals that were captured.
27 and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation;
Then divide them between the troops who went into battle and the rest of the Israelites.
28 and levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the flocks;
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.
29 take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, as a portion set apart for the LORD.
Take this from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
30 And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, even of all the cattle, and give them unto the Levites, that keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.'
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.”
31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had ordered Moses.
32 Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,
This was the list of plunder remaining that had been looted by the troops: 675,000 sheep,
33 and threescore and twelve thousand beeves,
72,000 cattle,
34 and threescore and one thousand asses,
61,000 donkeys,
35 and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not known man by lying with him.
and 32,000 virgins.
36 And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep.
This was the half share for those who had gone to fight: 337,500 sheep,
37 And the LORD'S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
with a contribution for the Lord of 675,
38 And the beeves were thirty and six thousand, of which the LORD'S tribute was threescore and twelve.
36,000 cattle, with a Lord's contribution of 72,
39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred, of which the LORD'S tribute was threescore and one.
30,500 donkeys, with a Lord's contribution of 61,
40 And the persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the LORD'S tribute was thirty and two persons.
and 16,000 people, with a Lord's contribution of 32.
41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was set apart for the LORD, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Moses gave the contribution to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord as the Lord had ordered Moses.
42 And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men that warred —
The Israelites' half share left after Moses had given the half share to the troops who had gone to fight,
43 now the congregation's half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,
consisted of: 337,500 sheep,
44 and thirty and six thousand beeves,
36,000 cattle,
45 and thirty thousand and five hundred asses,
30,500 donkeys,
46 and sixteen thousand persons —
and 16,000 people.
47 even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
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.
48 And the officers that were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;
The army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came to Moses
49 and they said unto Moses: 'Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war that are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.
and told him, “We, your servants, have checked the troops we command and not a single man is missing.
50 And we have brought the LORD'S offering, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and girdles, to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.'
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.”
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them all the objects made out of gold.
52 And all the gold of the gift that they set apart for the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. —
The gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds gave as an offering to the Lord weighed in total 16,750 shekels.
53 For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. —
(The men who had fought in the battle had each taken plunder for himself.)
54 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, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
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.
