Numbers 31
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
The Lord told Moses,
2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After doing that, you will die and be gathered to your people.”
“Punish the Midianites because of what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your forefathers in death.”
3 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.
Moses instructed the people, “Have some of your men get ready for battle, so they can go and attack the Midianites and carry out the Lord's punishment on them.
4 Every tribe throughout Israel must send a thousand soldiers to war.”
You are to contribute one thousand men from each Israelite tribe.”
5 So out of Israel's thousands of men, one thousand was provided from each tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war.
So one thousand men were chosen from each Israelite tribe, making twelve thousand troops ready for battle.
6 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.
Moses sent them into battle, one thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest. He carried with him the holy objects from the sanctuary and the trumpets used for giving signals.
7 They fought against Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They killed every man.
They attacked the Midianites, as the Lord had told Moses to do, and they killed all the men.
8 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.
Among those killed were the five kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword.
9 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.
The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took as plunder all their herds, flocks, and possessions.
10 They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps.
They set fire to all the Midianite towns and camps where they had lived,
11 They took all the plunder and prisoners, both people and animals.
and carried away all the plunder and loot, including people and animals.
12 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.
They brought the prisoners, loot, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the rest of the Israelites where they were camped on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan opposite Jericho.
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.
Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the Israelite leaders went out of the camp to meet them.
14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from battle.
Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who returned from the battle.
15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?
“Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.
16 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.
“You realize that these were the women seduced the Israelite men, leading them to be unfaithful to the Lord at Peor, following Balaam's advice! That's why the Lord's people suffered from the plague!
17 Now then, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man.
So go and kill all the boys and every woman who has had slept with a man.
18 But take for yourselves all the young girls who have never slept with a man.
Let all the girls who are virgins live. They are yours.
19 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.
All those of you who killed someone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. Purify yourselves and your prisoners on the third day and the seventh day.
20 You must purify every garment and everything made of animal hide and goats' hair, and everything made of wood.”
Also purify all your clothing garment and anything made of leather, goat's hair, or wood.”
21 Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to war, “This is a decreed law that Yahweh has given to Moses:
Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone into battle, “These are the legal regulations that the Lord has ordered Moses to be carried out:
22 The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead,
All that's made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—
23 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.
anything that doesn't burn—must be put through fire to make it clean. But it still has to be purified using water of purification. Anything that burns must be put through the water.
24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and then you will become clean. Afterward you may come into Israel's camp.”
Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean. Then you can enter the camp.”
25 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
The Lord told Moses,
26 “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
“You, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite family leaders are to take a record of the people and animals that were captured.
27 must divide the plunder into two parts. Divide it between the soldiers who went out to battle and all the rest of the community.
Then divide them between the troops who went into battle and the rest of the Israelites.
28 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.
Take as a contribution to the Lord from what is allocated to the troops who went into battle one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.
29 Take this tax from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for an offering to be presented to me.
Take this from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
30 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.”
From the Israelites; half share, take one out of every fifty people, cattle, donkeys, or sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who take care of the Lord's Tabernacle.”
31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had ordered Moses.
32 Now the plunder that remained of what the soldiers had taken was 675,000 sheep,
This was the list of plunder remaining that had been looted by the troops: 675,000 sheep,
33 seventy-two thousand oxen,
72,000 cattle,
34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,
61,000 donkeys,
35 and thirty-two thousand women who had never slept with any man.
and 32,000 virgins.
36 The half that was kept for the soldiers numbered 337,000 sheep.
This was the half share for those who had gone to fight: 337,500 sheep,
37 Yahweh's part of the sheep was 675.
with a contribution for the Lord of 675,
38 The oxen were thirty-six thousand which Yahweh's tax was seventy-two.
36,000 cattle, with a Lord's contribution of 72,
39 The donkeys were 30,500 from which Yahweh's part was sixty-one.
30,500 donkeys, with a Lord's contribution of 61,
40 The persons were sixteen thousand women of whom Yahweh's tax was thirty-two.
and 16,000 people, with a Lord's contribution of 32.
41 Moses took the tax that was to be an offering presented to Yahweh. He gave it to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Moses gave the contribution to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord as the Lord had ordered Moses.
42 As for the people of Israel's half that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war—
The Israelites' half share left after Moses had given the half share to the troops who had gone to fight,
43 the community's half was 337,500 sheep,
consisted of: 337,500 sheep,
44 thirty-six thousand oxen,
36,000 cattle,
45 30,500 donkeys,
30,500 donkeys,
46 and sixteen thousand women.
and 16,000 people.
47 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.
Moses took from the Israelites' half one out of every fifty people and animals and gave them the Levites who take care of the Lord's Tabernacle, as the Lord had ordered him.
48 Then the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds, came to Moses.
The army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came to Moses
49 They said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our command, and not one man is missing.
and told him, “We, your servants, have checked the troops we command and not a single man is missing.
50 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.”
So we have brought the Lord an offering of the gold objects each man received—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—in order that we may be right before the Lord.”
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold and all the articles of craftsmanship.
Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them all the objects made out of gold.
52 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.
The gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds gave as an offering to the Lord weighed in total 16,750 shekels.
53 Each soldier had taken plunder, each man for himself.
(The men who had fought in the battle had each taken plunder for himself.)
54 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.
Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and took it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial offering for the Israelites in the presence of the Lord.
