Numbers 31
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and said,
Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
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.”
“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/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].
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 Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
Every tribe throughout Israel must send a thousand soldiers to war.”
5 So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
So out of Israel's thousands of men, one thousand was provided from each tribe, twelve thousand men 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].
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 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.
They fought against Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They killed every man.
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.
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 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.
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 Then they burned down all the houses in the towns and villages where the people of the Midian people-group lived,
They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps.
11 but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
They took all the plunder and prisoners, both people and animals.
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.
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 Eleazar and all the leaders of the people and Moses/I went outside the camp to greet/meet with them.
Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went 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.
But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from battle.
15 He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?
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.
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 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 among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man.
18 Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
But take for yourselves all the young girls who have never slept with a man.
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.
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 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.”
You must purify every garment and everything made of animal hide and goats' hair, and everything made of wood.”
21 Then Eleazar said to the soldiers who had returned from the battle, “This is what Yahweh has instructed 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 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].
The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and 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.
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 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.”
You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and then you will become clean. Afterward you may come into Israel's camp.”
25 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
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].
“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 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.
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 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.
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 Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
Take this tax from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for an offering to be presented to me.
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.”
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 So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh 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.
Now the plunder that remained of what the soldiers had taken was 675,000 sheep,
seventy-two thousand oxen,
sixty-one thousand donkeys,
and thirty-two thousand women who had never slept with any man.
36 The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
The half that was kept for the soldiers numbered 337,000 sheep.
37 and they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
Yahweh's part of the sheep was 675.
38 They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
The oxen were thirty-six thousand which Yahweh's tax was seventy-two.
39 They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
The donkeys were 30,500 from which Yahweh's part was sixty-one.
40 They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
The persons were sixteen thousand women of whom Yahweh's tax was thirty-two.
41 Moses/I gave to Eleazar all [the animals] that had been given to Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded.
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 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,
As for the people of Israel's half that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war—
the community's half was 337,500 sheep,
thirty-six thousand oxen,
30,500 donkeys,
and sixteen thousand women.
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.
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 the army officers and those who commanded 1,000 men and those who commanded 100 men came to Moses/me.
Then the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds, came 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).
They said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our command, and not one man 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.”
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 Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold and all the articles of craftsmanship.
52 The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
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 Each soldier had taken these things for himself.
Each soldier had taken plunder, each man 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].
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.
