Numbers 31
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and said,
And YHWH speaks 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.”
“Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites—afterward you are gathered 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 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 Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
one thousand for a tribe—you send one thousand for a tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”
5 So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
And there are given out of the thousands of Israel one thousand for a tribe—twelve thousand armed ones [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 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 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 war against Midian, as YHWH has commanded Moses, and slay 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 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 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 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 Then they burned down all the houses in the towns and villages where the people of the Midian people-group lived,
and they have burned all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, with fire.
11 but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
And they take all the spoil and all the prey, among man and among 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 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 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 congregation, go out to meet them, to the outside of 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 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 He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
And Moses says to them, “Have you kept 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.
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 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 infants, indeed, slay every woman knowing a man by the lying of a male;
18 Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
and all the infants among the women who have not known the lying of a male you have kept 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 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 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 skin vessel, and every work of goats’ [hair], and every wooden vessel, you yourselves cleanse.”
21 Then Eleazar said to the soldiers who had returned from the battle, “This is what Yahweh has instructed 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 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 bronze, 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 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 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 have washed your garments on the seventh day and have been clean, and afterward you come into the camp.”
25 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
And YHWH speaks 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 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 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 have halved the prey between those handling the battle, who go out to the war, and all the 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 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 Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
you take from their half and have given [it] to Eleazar the priest [as] a raised-offering of YHWH.
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 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 So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
And Moses does—Eleazar the priest also—as YHWH has 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 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;
and seventy-two thousand of the herd;
and sixty-one thousand donkeys;
and of mankind—of the women who have not known the lying of a male—all the persons [are] thirty-two thousand.
36 The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
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 they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
And the tribute to YHWH of the sheep is six hundred seventy-five;
38 They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
and the herd [is] thirty-six thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] seventy-two;
39 They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
and the donkeys [are] thirty thousand and five hundred, and their tribute to YHWH [is] sixty-one;
40 They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
and of mankind [are] sixteen thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] thirty-two persons.
41 Moses/I gave to Eleazar all [the animals] that had been given to Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded.
And Moses gives the tribute—YHWH’s raised-offering—to Eleazar the priest, as YHWH has 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 sons of Israel’s half, which Moses halved from the men who war—
and the congregation’s half is three hundred thousand and thirty thousand [and] seven thousand and five hundred of the flock;
and thirty-six thousand of the herd;
and thirty thousand and five hundred donkeys;
and sixteen thousand of mankind—
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 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 the army officers and those who commanded 1,000 men and those who commanded 100 men came to Moses/me.
And the inspectors whom the thousands of the host have (heads of the thousands and heads of the hundreds), draw 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 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 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 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 Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
And Moses receives—Eleazar the priest also—the gold from them, every vessel of workmanship;
52 The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
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 Each soldier had taken these things for himself.
(the men of the host have each taken spoil 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 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.
