Numbers 31
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and said,
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Before you die, [tell the] Israeli people that they should (pay back/get revenge on) the Midian people-group for what they did to you.”
Avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites; afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy peoples.
3 So Moses/I said to the people, “Get some men prepared for battle. Yahweh will enable them to (pay back/get revenge on) the Midian people-group [for what they did to us].
And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm from amongst you men for military service, that they go against Midian to execute Jehovah's vengeance upon Midian.
4 Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
Of every tribe a thousand, of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.
5 So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
And there were levied out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand by tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 When Moses/I sent them to the battle, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, went with them. He took with him some of the things from the Sacred Tent and the trumpets that would be blown to give the signal [to start the battle].
And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand by the tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, and the holy instruments, even the alarm-trumpets in his hand.
7 The Israeli men fought the soldiers from the Midian people-group, as Yahweh had told Moses/me to tell them to do, and they killed every man from the Midian people-group.
And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah had commanded Moses, and slew all the males.
8 Among those whom they killed were the five kings of the Midian people-group—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed with a sword Balaam, the son of Beor.
And they slew the kings of Midian, besides the others slain, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
9 They captured all the women and children of the Midian people-group and took away their cattle, their flocks of sheep, and herds of goats, and all their other possessions.
And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took for a spoil all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods;
10 Then they burned down all the houses in the towns and villages where the people of the Midian people-group lived,
and all their cities in their settlements and all their encampments they burned with fire.
11 but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
And they took all the booty, and all the prey, of man and of cattle;
12 They brought all these to Eliezer and Moses/me, and to the rest of the Israeli people who were at their/our camp on the plains where the Moab people-group lived, near the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
and they brought to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the assembly of the children of Israel, the captives and the prey and the booty, to the camp in the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan of Jericho.
13 Eleazar and all the leaders of the people and Moses/I went outside the camp to greet/meet with them.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the assembly went forth to meet them outside the camp.
14 But Moses/I was angry with some of the men who had returned from the battle. He/I was angry with the army officers and the men who were commanders of 1,000 men and those who were commanders of 100 men.
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the army, with the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war;
15 He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
and Moses said to them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
16 They are the ones who did what Balaam suggested and urged/persuaded our people to worship Baal [instead of Yahweh]. As a result, Yahweh caused a plague to strike his people while they were at Peor.
Lo, these, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the children of Israel to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague on the assembly of Jehovah.
17 So, now you must kill all the boys of the Midian people-group, and also kill all the women who have had sex [EUP] with any man.
And now slay every male among the little ones, and slay every woman that hath known man by lying with him,
18 Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
but all the children among the women that have not known lying with a man, keep alive for yourselves.
19 All of you who have killed someone or touched the corpse of someone who was killed [in the battle] must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day, you must [perform the ritual to] cause you and those whom you have captured to become acceptable to God again.
And encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever hath killed a person, and whoever hath touched any slain; ye shall purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
20 You must also wash your clothes and anything [that you took to the battle] that is made of leather or goat’s hair or wood.”
And every garment, and every vessel of skin, and all work of goat's hair, and every utensil of wood shall ye purify.
21 Then Eleazar said to the soldiers who had returned from the battle, “This is what Yahweh has instructed Moses:
And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war that had gone to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
22 You must put into a fire any gold or silver or bronze or iron or tin or lead things [that you brought back from the battle].
Only the gold, and the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 Put everything that will not burn into the fire, and then they will be acceptable for you to use. But also sprinkle those things with the water that causes things and people to become acceptable to God. The things that would burn [if you put them] in a fire, sprinkle them with that water.
everything that passeth through the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; only it shall be purified with the water of separation; and everything that cannot pass through the fire ye shall make go through the water.
24 On the seventh day, wash your clothes, and then you will become acceptable to God again. After you do that, you may return to the camp.”
And ye shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterwards ye may come into the camp.
25 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
26 “Tell Eleazar and the leaders of the family groups that they must write down a list of all the goods, the women, and the animals that were captured [in the battle].
Take the sum of the prey that was taken, of man and of cattle, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the assembly;
27 Then they must divide all those things, half given to the men who fought in the battle and the other half given to the rest of the people.
and divide the prey into halves, between them that conducted the war, who went out to the battle, and the whole assembly.
28 From the men who fought in the battle, take one from every 500 people and from every 500 cattle and donkeys and sheep, to be a tax for me.
And thou shalt levy a tribute for Jehovah of the men of war who went out to the army, one soul of five hundred of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the small cattle.
29 Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
Of their half shall ye take it, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave-offering of Jehovah.
30 And from the half that belongs to the ordinary people, take one item from every 50. That includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and other animals. Give those things to the descendants of Levi who take care of my Sacred Tent.”
And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the small cattle, of every [kind of] beasts, and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.
31 So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
32 There were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins that they had captured from the Midian people-group.
And the prey, the rest of the spoil, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
and seventy-two thousand oxen,
and sixty-one thousand asses,
and of human persons, of the women that had not known lying with a man, all the persons were thirty-two thousand.
36 The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
And the half, the portion of them that had gone out to the war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
37 and they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
and the tribute for Jehovah of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five;
38 They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
and the oxen were thirty-six thousand, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, seventy-two;
39 They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
and the asses were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, sixty-one;
40 They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
and the human persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the tribute for Jehovah was thirty-two persons.
41 Moses/I gave to Eleazar all [the animals] that had been given to Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded.
And Moses gave the tribute of Jehovah's heave-offering to Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
42 Moses/I separated what those who had fought in the battle received from what the other people received. The people had taken 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins,
And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses had divided, [taking it] from the men that served in the war,
(now the half belonging to the assembly was of the sheep, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred,
and thirty-six thousand oxen,
and thirty thousand five hundred asses,
and sixteen thousand human persons, )
47 From what the people received, Moses/I took one from every 50 items and dedicated them to Yahweh. That included animals and people. As Yahweh commanded, he/I gave them all to the descendants of Levi who took care of the Sacred Tent.
...of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, of man and of cattle, and gave them to the Levites who kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
48 Then the army officers and those who commanded 1,000 men and those who commanded 100 men came to Moses/me.
And the officers who were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses,
49 They said, “We, who are your servants, have counted the soldiers whom we command, and [we found that] none of them (is missing/has been killed).
and they said to Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war who were under our hand, and there is not one man of us lacking.
50 So [to thank Yahweh for that], we have brought to him a gift of the gold items that we found [after the battle]: Gold arm bands and bracelets and rings and earrings and necklaces. This will enable us to be forgiven for our sins.”
So we present the offering of Jehovah, that which each one hath found, jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.
51 So Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, all manner of wrought jewels.
52 The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered to Jehovah was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds.
53 Each soldier had taken these things for himself.
(The men of war had taken spoil each one for himself.)
54 Eleazar and Moses/I accepted these gold items from these commanders and put them in the Sacred Tent to remind the Israeli people about how Yahweh [had helped them defeat the Midian people-group].
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, as a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.
