Numbers 31

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.

3 And Moses spake 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.

And Moses forthwith said: Arm of you men to fight, who may take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.

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

Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to the war.

5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve thousand men well appointed 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 vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

And Moses sent them with Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest, and he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.

7 And they warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew every male.

And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew 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.

And their kings Evi, and Recem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, five princes of the nation: Balaam also the son of Beer they killed 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.

And they took their women, and their children captives, and all their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they plundered:

10 And all their cities in the places wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.

And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they burned.

11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.

And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken both of men and of beasts.

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 at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

And they brought them to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the children of Israel. But the rest of the things for use they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan over against Jericho.

13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the synagogue went forth to meet them without the camp.

14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, which came from the service of the war.

And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,

15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

Said: Why have you saved the women?

16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.

Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel by the counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the sin of Phogor, for which also the people was punished?

17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.

18 But all the women children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for yourselves:

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.

And stay without the camp seven days. He that hath killed a man, or touched one that is killed, shall be purified 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 yourselves.

And of all the spoil, every garment, or vessel, or any thing made for use, of the skins, or hair of goats, or of wood, shall be purified.

21 And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which the LORD hath commanded Moses:

Eleazar also the priest spoke to the men of the army, that had fought, in this manner: This is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord hath commanded Moses:

22 howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lend, and tin,

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 separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.

And all that may pass through the fire, shall be purified by fire, but whatsoever cannot abide the fire, shall be sanctified with the water of expiation:

24 And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being purified, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.

25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

And the Lord said to 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:

Take the sum of the things that were taken both of man and beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the multitude:

27 and divide the prey into two parts; between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation:

And thou shalt divide the spoil equally, between them that fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.

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:

And thou shalt separate a portion to the Lord from them that fought and were in the battle, one soul of five hundred as well of persons as of oxen and asses and sheep.

29 take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for the LORD’S heave offering.

And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the firstfruits of 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, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.

Out of the moiety also of the children of Israel thou shalt take the fiftieth head of persons, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and of all beasts, and thou shalt give them to the Levites that watch in the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.

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,

And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 and threescore and twelve thousand beeves,

Seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 and threescore and one thousand asses,

Sixty-one thousand asses:

35 and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not known man by lying with him.

And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men.

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:

And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:

37 and the LORD’S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six hundred seventy-five sheep.

38 And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD’S tribute was threescore and twelve.

And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:

39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the LORD’S tribute was threescore and one.

Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:

40 And the persons were sixteen thousand; of whom the LORD’S tribute was thirty and two persons.

Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion of the Lord, thirty-two souls.

41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’S heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

And Moses delivered the number of the firstfruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,

42 And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men that warred,

Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated for them that had been in the battle.

43 (now the congregation’s half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand and five hundred sheep,

But out of the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that is to say, out of the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

44 and thirty and six thousand beeves,

And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 and thirty thousand and five hundred asses,

And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,

46 and sixteen thousand persons; )

And out of the sixteen thousand persons,

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, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.

48 And the officers which were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:

And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and centurions were come to Moses, they said:

49 and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.

We thy servants have reckoned up the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was wanting.

50 And we have brought the LORD’S oblation, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, earrings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.

Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of us could find in the booty, in garters and tablets, rings and bracelets, and chains, that thou mayst pray to the Lord for us.

51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.

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

52 And all the gold of the heave offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from the tribunes and from the centurions.

53 ([For] the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)

For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.

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.

And that which was received they brought into the tabernacle of the testimony, for a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.