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2 Exact thou the avenging of the sons of Israel, from the Midianites, —and, afterwards, shalt thou be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk.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 children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shall you be gathered to your 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 yourselves to the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.

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

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

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

So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand 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 to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

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

And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

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 Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

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 the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.

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

And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelled, and all their goodly castles, with fire.

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

And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.

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 the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near 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 princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

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 wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.

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

And Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women 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!

Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among 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 therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that has known man by lying with him.

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

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

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 do you abide without the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and 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 purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.

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 war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses;

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

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

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 may abide the fire, you shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that stays not the fire you shall make go through the 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 you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean, and afterward you 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 prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers 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 divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war on them, who went out to battle, and between all the 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 levy a tribute to the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:

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

Take it of their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering 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 of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them to the Levites, which keep the charge of 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 the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

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

And three score and twelve thousand beeves,

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

And three score and one thousand asses,

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

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

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, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:

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

And the LORD’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and three score and fifteen.

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

And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD’s tribute was three score and twelve.

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

And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the LORD’s tribute was three score and one.

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

And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty and two persons.

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

And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’s heave offering, 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,

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

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

(Now the half that pertained to the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,

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

And thirty and six thousand beeves,

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

And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,

46 and, human persons, sixteen thousand.

And sixteen thousand persons; )

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.

Even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them to the Levites, which kept the charge 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 the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near 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!

And they said to Moses, Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacks not one man of us.

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.

We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls 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 of them, even all worked jewels.

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 gold of the 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.

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

(For the men of war had taken spoil, every man 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 of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.