Numbers 31

1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

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2 Exact thou the avenging of the sons of Israel, from the Midianites, —and, afterwards, shalt thou be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk.

“Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites—afterward you are 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 speaks to the people, saying, “Arm men from [among] you for the war, and they are against Midian, to put the vengeance of YHWH on Midian;

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

one thousand for a tribe—you send one thousand for a tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”

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

And there are given out of the thousands of Israel one thousand for a tribe—twelve thousand armed ones [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 sends them, one thousand for a tribe, to the war; [he sent] them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the war, with the holy vessels and the trumpets of shouting in his hand.

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

And they war against Midian, as YHWH has commanded Moses, and slay 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 have slain the kings of Midian besides their pierced ones: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five kings of Midian; and they have slain Balaam son of Beor 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 sons of Israel take the women of Midian and their infants captive; and they have plundered all their livestock, and all their substance, and all their wealth;

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

and they have burned all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, with fire.

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

And they take all the spoil and all the prey, among man and among 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 bring in the captives, and the prey, and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp, to the plains of Moab, which [are] by the 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, go out to meet them, to the outside of 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 is angry against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the warfare of battle.

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

And Moses says to them, “Have you kept 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!

Behold, they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against YHWH in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the congregation of YHWH.

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

And now, slay every male among the infants, indeed, slay every woman knowing a man by the lying of a male;

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

and all the infants among the women who have not known the lying of a male you have kept 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 you, encamp at the outside of the camp [for] seven days; any who has slain a person, and any who has come against a pierced one, cleanse yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day—you and your captives;

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 every garment, and every skin vessel, and every work of goats’ [hair], and every wooden vessel, you yourselves cleanse.”

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 says to the men of war who go to battle, “This [is] the statute of the law which YHWH has 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 bronze, 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.

everything which may go into fire, you cause to pass over through fire, and it has been clean; it is surely cleansed with the water of separation; and all that may not go into fire, you cause to pass over 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 you have washed your garments on the seventh day and have been clean, and afterward you come into the camp.”

25 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

And YHWH speaks 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 up the sum of the prey of the captives, among man and among beast, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the 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 you have halved the prey between those handling the battle, who go out to the war, and 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 you have raised a tribute to YHWH from the men of battle, who go out to the war, one body out of five hundred, of man, and of the herd, and of the donkeys, and of the flock;

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

you take from their half and have given [it] to Eleazar the priest [as] a raised-offering of YHWH.

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 sons of Israel’s half you take one possession out of fifty, of man, of the herd, of the donkeys, and of the flock, of all the livestock, and you have given them to the Levites keeping the charge of the Dwelling Place of YHWH.”

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

And Moses does—Eleazar the priest also—as YHWH has 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 prey, the remainder of the spoil which the people of the host have spoiled, is six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand of the flock;

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

and seventy-two thousand of the herd;

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

and sixty-one thousand donkeys;

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

and of mankind—of the women who have not known the lying of a male—all the persons [are] 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, the portion of those who go out into the war, is [in] number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred of the flock.

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

And the tribute to YHWH of the sheep is six hundred seventy-five;

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

and the herd [is] thirty-six thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] seventy-two;

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

and the donkeys [are] thirty thousand and five hundred, and their tribute to YHWH [is] sixty-one;

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

and of mankind [are] sixteen thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] thirty-two persons.

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

And Moses gives the tribute—YHWH’s raised-offering—to Eleazar the priest, as YHWH has 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 sons of Israel’s half, which Moses halved from the men who war—

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

and the congregation’s half is three hundred thousand and thirty thousand [and] seven thousand and five hundred of the flock;

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

and thirty-six thousand of the herd;

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

and thirty thousand and five hundred donkeys;

46 and, human persons, sixteen thousand.

and sixteen thousand of mankind—

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.

Moses takes from the sons of Israel’s half one possession from the fifty, of man and of beast, and gives them to the Levites keeping the charge of the Dwelling Place of YHWH, as YHWH has 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 inspectors whom the thousands of the host have (heads of the thousands and heads of the hundreds), draw 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 say to Moses, “Your servants have taken up the sum of the men of war who [are] with us, and not a man of us has been missed;

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 bring YHWH’s offering near, each of that which he has found of vessels of gold—chain, and bracelet, seal-ring, [ear]-ring, and bead—to make atonement for ourselves before YHWH.”

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

And Moses receives—Eleazar the priest also—the gold from them, every vessel of workmanship;

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 raised-offering which they have lifted up to YHWH is sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from heads of the thousands and from heads of the hundreds;

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

(the men of the host have each taken spoil 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 takes—Eleazar the priest also—the gold from the heads of the thousands and of the hundreds, and they bring it into the Tent of Meeting [as] a memorial for the sons of Israel before YHWH.