Numbers 31
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and said,
And the Lord 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.”
Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.
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 forthwith said: Arm of you men to fight, who may take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.
4 Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to the war.
5 So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve thousand men well appointed for battle.
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 with Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest, and he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.
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 when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew all the men.
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 their kings Evi, and Recem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, five princes of the nation: Balaam also the son of Beer they killed 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 they took their women, and their children captives, and all their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they plundered:
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, and their villages, and castles, they burned.
11 but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken both of men and of beasts.
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 them to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the children of Israel. But the rest of the things for use they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan over against 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 synagogue went forth to meet them without 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 being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,
15 He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
Said: Why have you saved the women?
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.
Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel by the counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the sin of Phogor, for which also the people was punished?
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.
Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.
18 Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save 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 stay without the camp seven days. He that hath killed a man, or touched one that is killed, shall be purified the third day and the seventh day.
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 of all the spoil, every garment, or vessel, or any thing made for use, of the skins, or hair of goats, or of wood, shall be purified.
21 Then Eleazar said to the soldiers who had returned from the battle, “This is what Yahweh has instructed Moses:
Eleazar also the priest spoke to the men of the army, that had fought, in this manner: This is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord 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].
Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lend, and tin,
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.
And all that may pass through the fire, shall be purified by fire, but whatsoever cannot abide the fire, shall be sanctified with the water of expiation:
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 you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being purified, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.
25 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
And the Lord said to Moses:
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 things that were taken both of man and beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the multitude:
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 thou shalt divide the spoil equally, between them that fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.
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 separate a portion to the Lord from them that fought and were in the battle, one soul of five hundred as well of persons as of oxen and asses and sheep.
29 Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the firstfruits of the Lord.
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.”
Out of the moiety also of the children of Israel thou shalt take the fiftieth head of persons, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and of all beasts, and thou shalt give them to the Levites that watch in the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
31 So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.
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 spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
Seventy-two thousand oxen,
Sixty-one thousand asses:
And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men.
36 The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:
37 and they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six hundred seventy-five sheep.
38 They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:
39 They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:
40 They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion of the Lord, thirty-two souls.
41 Moses/I gave to Eleazar all [the animals] that had been given to Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded.
And Moses delivered the number of the firstfruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,
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,
Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated for them that had been in the battle.
But out of the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that is to say, out of the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,
And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,
And out of the sixteen thousand 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.
Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.
48 Then the army officers and those who commanded 1,000 men and those who commanded 100 men came to Moses/me.
And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and centurions were come to Moses, they said:
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).
We thy servants have reckoned up the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was wanting.
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.”
Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of us could find in the booty, in garters and tablets, rings and bracelets, and chains, that thou mayst pray to the Lord for us.
51 So Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in divers kinds,
52 The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from the tribunes and from the centurions.
53 Each soldier had taken these things for himself.
For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.
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 that which was received they brought into the tabernacle of the testimony, for a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.
