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.”
Avenge the wrongs of the children of Israel on the Madianites, and afterwards you shall be added to your 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 spoke to the people, saying, Arm some of you, and set yourselves in array before the Lord against Madian, to inflict vengeance on Madian from the Lord.
4 Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
Send a thousand of each tribe from all the tribes of the children of Israel to set themselves in array.
5 So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
And they numbered of the thousands of Israel a thousand of [each] tribe, twelve thousands; [these were] 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 away a thousand of every tribe with their forces, and Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: and the holy instruments, and the signal trumpets [were] in their hands.
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 set themselves in array against Madian, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they killed every male.
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 killed the kings of Madian together with their slain [subjects]; even Evi and Rocon, and Sur, and Ur, and Roboc, five kings of Madian; and they killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor with their [other] slain.
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 made a prey of the women of Madian, and their store, and their cattle, and all their possessions: and they spoiled their forces.
10 Then they burned down all the houses in the towns and villages where the people of the Midian people-group lived,
And they burnt with fire all their cities in the places of their habitation and they burnt their villages with fire.
11 but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
And they took all their plunder, and all their spoils, both man and beast.
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 to Eleazar the priest, and to all the children of Israel, the captives, and the spoils, and the plunder, to the camp to Araboth Moab, which is at Jordan by 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 rulers of the synagogue went forth out of the camp to meet them.
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 angry with the captains of the host, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds who came from the battle-array.
15 He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
And Moses said to them, Why have you saved every female 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.
For they were [the occasion] to the children of Israel by the word of Balaam of their revolting and despising the word of the Lord, because of Phogor; and there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord.
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.
Now then kill every male in all the spoil, kill every woman, who has known the lying with man.
18 Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
And as for all the captivity of women, who have not known the lying with man, save you them alive.
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 you shall encamp outside the [great] camp seven days; every one who has slain and who touches a dead body, shall be purified on the third day, and you and your captivity [shall purify yourselves] on 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 you shall purify every garment and every leather utensil, and all furniture of goat skin, and every wooden vessel.
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 the host that came from the battle-array, This [is] the ordinance of the law which the Lord has 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].
Beside the gold, and the silver, and the brass, and the iron, and lead, 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.
every thing that shall pass through the fire shall so be clean, nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sanctification; and whatever will not pass through the fire shall pass through 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 on the seventh day you shall wash your garments, and be clean; and afterwards you shall come into the camp.
25 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
And the Lord 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 spoils of the captivity both of man and beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the families of the congregation.
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 you shall divide the spoils between the warriors that went out to battle, and the whole congregation.
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 you shall take a tribute for the Lord from the warriors that went out to battle; one soul out of five hundred, from the men, and from the cattle, even from the oxen, and from the sheep, and from the asses; and you shall take from their half.
29 Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
And you shall give [them] to Eleazar the priest [as] the first fruits 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.”
And from the half belonging to the children of Israel you shall take one in fifty from the men, and from the oxen, and from the sheep, and from the asses, and from all the cattle; and you shall give them to the Levites that keep the charges in the tabernacle of the Lord.
31 So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord 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 that which remained of the spoil which the warriors took, was—of the sheep, six hundred and seventy-five thousand:
and oxen, seventy-two thousand:
and asses, sixty-one thousand.
And persons of women who had not known lying with man, all the souls, thirty-two thousand.
36 The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
And the half, [even] the portion of them that went out to war, from the number of the sheep, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.
37 and they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
And the tribute to the Lord from the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.
38 They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
And the oxen, six and thirty thousand, and the tribute to the Lord seventy-two.
39 They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
And asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, and the tribute to the Lord, sixty-one:
40 They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
and the persons, sixteen thousand, and the tribute of them to 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 gave the tribute to the Lord, the heave-offering of God, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord 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,
from the half belonging to the children of Israel, whom Moses separated from the men of war.
And the half [taken] from the sheep, belonging to the congregation, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.
And the oxen, thirty-six thousand;
asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;
and persons, sixteen thousand.
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.
And Moses took of the half belonging to the children of Israel the fifties part, of men and of cattle, and he gave them to the Levites who keep the charges of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord 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 all those who were appointed to be officers of thousands of the host, captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, approached Moses, and said 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).
Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war with us, and not one is missing.
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.”
And we have brought our gift to the Lord, [every] man who has found an article of gold, whether an armlet, or a chain, or a ring, or a bracelet, or a clasp for hair, to make atonement for us before the Lord.
51 So Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even every wrought article.
52 The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
And all the wrought gold, even the offering that they offered to the Lord, was sixteen thousand and seven hundred and fifty shekels from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds.
53 Each soldier had taken these things for himself.
For the men of war took plunder every 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 from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and brought the vessels into the tabernacle of witness, a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.
