Numbers 31

1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

2 Exact thou the avenging of the sons of Israel, from the Midianites, —and, afterwards, shalt thou be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk.

“Take vengeance on the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After doing that, you will die and 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.

So Moses spoke to the people. He said, “Arm some of your men for war so they may go against Midian and carry out Yahweh's vengeance on it.

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

Every tribe throughout Israel must send a thousand soldiers to war.”

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

So out of Israel's thousands of men, one thousand was provided from each tribe, twelve thousand men 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.

Then Moses sent them to battle, a thousand from every tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and with some articles from the holy place and the trumpets in his possession for sounding signals.

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

They fought against Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They killed every man.

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.

They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their dead: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed 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;

The army of Israel took captive the women of Midian, their children, all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. They took these as plunder.

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

They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps.

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

They took all the plunder and prisoners, both people and animals.

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.

They brought the prisoners, the plunder, and the captured things to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the community of the people of Israel. They brought these to the camp in the plains of Moab, 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.

Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside 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.

But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from battle.

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

Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?

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!

Look, these women caused the people of Israel, through Balaam's advice, to commit sin against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, when the plague spread among Yahweh's community.

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

Now then, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man.

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

But take for yourselves all the young girls who have never slept with a man.

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,

You must camp outside the camp of Israel for seven days. All of you who have killed anyone and or have touched any dead person—you must purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day—you and your prisoners.

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).

You must purify every garment and everything made of animal hide and goats' hair, and everything 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:

Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to war, “This is a decreed law that Yahweh has given to Moses:

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

The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and 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.

and everything that resists fire, you must put it through the fire, and it will become clean. You must then purify those things with the water of cleansing. Whatever cannot go through the fire you must cleanse with that water.

24 And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and be clean, —and after-wards, shall ye come into the camp.

You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and then you will become clean. Afterward you may come into Israel's camp.”

25 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

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;

“Count all the plundered things that were taken, both people and animals. You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community's ancestor's clans

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.

must divide the plunder into two parts. Divide it between the soldiers who went out to battle and all the rest of the community.

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:

Then levy a tax to be given to me from the soldiers who went out to battle. This tax must be one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or goats.

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 this tax from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for an offering to be presented to me.

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.

Also from the people of Israel's half, you must take one out of every fifty—from the persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give these to the Levites who take care of my tabernacle.”

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

So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh had 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;

Now the plunder that remained of what the soldiers had taken was 675,000 sheep,

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

seventy-two thousand oxen,

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

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 thirty-two thousand women who had never slept with any man.

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;

The half that was kept for the soldiers numbered 337,000 sheep.

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

Yahweh's part of the sheep was 675.

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

The oxen were thirty-six thousand which Yahweh's tax was seventy-two.

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

The donkeys were 30,500 from which Yahweh's part was sixty-one.

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

The persons were sixteen thousand women of whom Yahweh's tax was thirty-two.

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

Moses took the tax that was to be an offering presented to Yahweh. He gave it to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh 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,

As for the people of Israel's half that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war—

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

the community's half was 337,500 sheep,

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

thirty-six thousand oxen,

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

30,500 donkeys,

46 and, human persons, sixteen thousand.

and sixteen thousand women.

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.

From the people of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of people and animals. He gave them to the Levites who kept care of Yahweh's tabernacle, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

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;

Then the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds, came 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!

They said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our command, and not one man 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.

We have brought Yahweh's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before Yahweh.”

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

Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold and all the articles of craftsmanship.

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.

All the gold of the offering that they gave to Yahweh—the offerings from the commanders of thousands and from the captains of hundreds—weighed 16,750 shekels.

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

Each soldier had taken plunder, each 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.

Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and captains of hundreds. They took it into the tent of meeting as a reminder of the people of Israel for Yahweh.