Numbers 31

1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Exact thou the avenging of the sons of Israel, from the Midianites, —and, afterwards, shalt thou be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk.

Avenge the wrongs of the children of Israel on the Madianites, and afterwards thou shalt be added to thy people.

3 So Moses spake unto the people saying, Arm ye from among you men, for the war, and let them go against Midian, to render the avenging of Yahweh upon Midian.

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 A thousand from each tribe, —of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send forth unto the war.

Send a thousand of each tribe from all the tribes of the children of Israel to set themselves in array.

5 And there volunteered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of each tribe, —twelve thousand, armed for war.

And they numbered of the thousands of Israel a thousand of [each] tribe, twelve thousands; [these were] armed for war.

6 And Moses sent them a thousand of each tribe to the war, —them, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary, and the alarm trumpets, in his hand.

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 So they made war upon Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses, and slew every male:

And they set themselves in array against Madian, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew every male.

8 and the kings of Midian, slew they besides their other slain namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian, —Balaam also, son of Beor, slew they 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 And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, —all their cattle also and all their flocks and all their substance, carried they off as a prey;

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 all their cities also in their sites, and all their encampments, burned they up with fire.

And they burnt with fire all their cities in the places of their habitation and they burnt their villages with fire.

11 Then took they all the spoil, and all the booty, —both of man and beast;

And they took all their plunder, and all their spoils, both man and beast.

12 and brought in unto Moses and unto Eleazar the priest and unto the assembly of the sons of Israel—the captives and the booty, and the spoil unto the camp, —unto the waste plains of Moab, which are by Jordan, near 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 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the assembly, went forth to meet them, —unto the outside of the camp.

And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the rulers of the synagogue went forth out of the camp to meet them.

14 Then was Moses sore displeased with the officers of the force, —the princes of thousands, and the princes of hundreds who were coming in from the warring host.

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 And Moses said unto them, —Have ye saved alive every female?

And Moses said to them, Why have ye saved every female alive?

16 Lo! they, became unto the sons of Israel, by the advice of Balaam, the cause of daring acts of treachery against Yahweh, over the affair of Peor, —and then came the plague against the assembly of Yahweh!

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 Now, therefore, slay ye every male among the young, —every woman also that hath cohabited with man, slay ye.

Now then slay every male in all the spoil, slay every woman, who has known the lying with man.

18 But all the young of womankind that have, not cohabited with man, preserve alive for yourselves.

And as for all the captivity of women, who have not known the lying with man, save ye them alive.

19 Ye, then, pitch outside the camp, for seven days, —whosoever hath killed a person and whoever hath touched the slain, cleanse yourselves (from sin) on the third day and on the seventh day ye and your captives,

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 Every garment also, and every article of skin and every thing made of goat’s-hair, and every article of wood, shall ye cleanse (from sin).

And ye shall purify every garment and every leathern utensil, and all furniture of goat skin, and every wooden vessel.

21 Then said Eleazar the priest unto the men of the host, who had been to the war: This, is the statute of the law, which Yahweh hath commanded Moses:

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 Surely the gold and the silver, —the bronze the iron, the tin and the lead,

Beside the gold, and the silver, and the brass, and the iron, and lead, and tin,

23 whatsoever thing can go into fire, ye shall pass through fire and it shall be clean, only with the water of separation, shall ye cleanse it (from sin). But whatsoever cannot go into fire, ye shall pass through 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 And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and be clean, —and after-wards, shall ye come into the camp.

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

25 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

26 Reckon thou up the sum of the booty that was captured, both of man and of beast, —thou and Eleazar the priest, and the ancestral heads of the assembly;

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 and divide the booty into two parts, between them who took upon them the war, who went out in the host, —and all the [rest of the] assembly.

And ye shall divide the spoils between the warriors that went out to battle, and the whole congregation.

28 Then shalt thou levy a tribute unto Yahweh—from the men of war, who went forth in the host, one living thing, out of five hundred, —of the human beings, and of the herd, and of the asses and of the flock:

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 out of their half, shall ye take [them], —and thou shall give [them] unto Eleazar the priest as a heave-offering unto Yahweh.

And thou shalt give [them] to Eleazar the priest [as] the first-fruits of the Lord.

30 And out of the half allotted to the sons of Israel, shalt thou take one allotted portion out of fifty of the human beings, of the herd, of the asses and of the flock of all the cattle, —and shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the habitation of Yahweh.

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 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.

And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 And it came to pass that the booty, over and above the prey which the people of the host had seized, was, —of the flock, six hundred and seventy-five thousand;

And that which remained of the spoil which the warriors took, was—of the sheep, six hundred and seventy-five thousand:

33 and, of the herd, seventy-two thousand;

and oxen, seventy-two thousand:

34 and, of the asses, sixty-one thousand;

and asses, sixty-one thousand.

35 and, of the human persons, even of the woman-kind who had not cohabited with man, —all the persons, thirty-two thousand.

And persons of women who had not known lying with man, all the souls, thirty-two thousand.

36 And the half, the share of them who had gone forth in the host, was, —the number of the flock—three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred;

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 and so, the tribute unto Yahweh, out of the flock, was—six hundred and seventy-five;

And the tribute to the Lord from the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.

38 and the herd, thirty-six thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh—seventy-two;

And the oxen, six and thirty thousand, and the tribute to the Lord seventy-two.

39 and the asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, sixty-one;

And asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, and the tribute to the Lord, sixty-one:

40 and the human persons, sixteen thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, thirty-two persons.

and the persons, sixteen thousand, and the tribute of them to the Lord, thirty-two souls.

41 And Moses gave the tribute—the heave-offering of Yahweh, unto Eleazar the priest, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.

And Moses gave the tribute to the Lord, the heave-offering of God, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses;

42 And, of the half, allotted unto the sons of Israel, —which Moses halved away from the men who had gone out in the host,

from the half belonging to the children of Israel, whom Moses separated from the men of war.

43 the half allotted unto the assembly, was—of the flock, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, and five hundred;

And the half [taken] from the sheep, belonging to the congregation, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.

44 and, of the herd, six and thirty thousand;

And the oxen, thirty-six thousand;

45 and, of asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;

asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;

46 and, human persons, sixteen thousand.

and persons, sixteen thousand.

47 So then Moses took—out of the half belonging to the sons of Israel the allotted portion one out of fifty, of the human beings and of the beasts, —and gave them unto the Levites, the keepers of the charge of the habitation of Yahweh, As Yahweh commanded Moses.

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 Then came near unto Moses the officers who belonged unto the thousands of the host, —the princes of thousands and the princes of hundreds;

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 said unto Moses, Thy servants have reckoned up the sum of the men of war who are in our hand, —and there is not missed from among us, a man!

Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war with us, and not one is missing.

50 Therefore have we brought near an offering unto Yahweh, what, each man, hath found—articles of gold, ankle chains and bracelets, rings earrings and buckles, —to put a propitiatory-covering over our souls before Yahweh.

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 So Moses, and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, —all the wrought articles.

And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even every wrought article.

52 And all the gold of the heave-offering which they offered up unto Yahweh, was—sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, —of the princes of thousands, and of the princes of hundreds.

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 of the host, had taken prey, each man for himself.

For the men of war took plunder every one for himself.

54 So then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the princes of thousands, and hundreds, —and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the sons of Israel before Yahweh.

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.