Numbers 31

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

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.”

Execute the vengeance of the children of Israel on the Midianites, after which thou shalt be gathered unto thy people.

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.

And Moses spoke unto the people, saying, Arm from yourselves some men for the army, and let them go against the Midianites, to execute the vengeance of the Lord on Midian.

4 Every tribe throughout Israel must send a thousand soldiers to war.”

A thousand each for every tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the army.

5 So out of Israel's thousands of men, one thousand was provided from each tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war.

And there were levied out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for the army.

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.

And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the army; them and Phinehas the son of Elazar the priest, to the army, with the holy vessels, and the trumpets for blowing the alarm in his hand.

7 They fought against Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They killed every man.

And they marched out against the Midianites, as the Lord had commanded Moses; and they slew every male.

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.

And the kings of Midian they slew, besides the rest of their men that were slain; namely, Evi and Rekem, and Zur, and Chur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; and Bil'am the son of Beor they slew 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.

And the children of Israel took captives the women of Midian, and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as spoil.

10 They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps.

And all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their castles they burnt with fire.

11 They took all the plunder and prisoners, both people and animals.

And they took all the spoil, and all the booty, both of men and of cattle.

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.

And they brought unto Moses, and to Elazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, the captives, and the booty, and the spoil, unto the camp, to the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.

And Moses, and Elazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them, to without the camp.

14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from battle.

And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains over the thousands, and the captains over the hundreds, who had come from the war-campaign.

15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?

And Moses said unto them, Have ye allowed all the females to live?

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.

Behold, these chiefly were the cause unto the children of Israel, through the counsel of Bil'am, to commit the gross trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor; through which there was the plague among the congregation of the Lord.

17 Now then, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man.

And now kill ye every male among the little ones, and every woman that hath known man by lying with him shall ye kill.

18 But take for yourselves all the young girls who have never slept with a man.

But all among the women-children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

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.

But ye, —you must abide without the camp seven days: all ye who have killed any person, and all who have touched any one slain, shall purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day; both you and your captives.

20 You must purify every garment and everything made of animal hide and goats' hair, and everything made of wood.”

And every garment, and whatever is made of skins, and every work of goats' hair, and every vessel made of wood, shall ye purify unto yourselves.

21 Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to war, “This is a decreed law that Yahweh has given to Moses:

And Elazar the priest said unto the men of the army who had gone to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded Moses:

22 The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead,

Nevertheless the gold, and the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the 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.

Every thing that cometh into the fire shall ye make go through the fire, and it shall be clean; only it shall be purified with the waters of sprinkling: and whatsoever doth not come into the fire shall ye cause to go 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.”

And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and after that may ye come into the camp.

25 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

And the Lord said unto Moses, as followeth,

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

Take the sum of the booty of the captives, both of man and of cattle, thou, with Elazar the priest, and the chiefs of the families of the congregation:

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.

And thou shalt divide the booty, between those that carried on the war, who went out to the army, and between all the congregation.

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.

And thou shalt levy a tribute unto the Lord from the men of war who went out to the army, one individual from every five hundred, of the persons, and of the beef-cattle, and of the asses, and of the sheep;

29 Take this tax from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for an offering to be presented to me.

From their half shall ye take it; and thou shalt give it unto Elazar the priest, for a heave-offering of 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.”

And from the half of the children of Israel, shalt thou take one individual, as it may come, from any fifty, of the persons, of beef-cattle, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of cattle; and thou shalt give the same unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

And Moses with Elazar the priest did, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

32 Now the plunder that remained of what the soldiers had taken was 675,000 sheep,

And the booty, being the rest of the spoil which the men of the army had taken, was of sheep and goats, six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand,

33 seventy-two thousand oxen,

And of beef-cattle, seventy and two thousand,

34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,

And of asses, sixty and one thousand,

35 and thirty-two thousand women who had never slept with any man.

And of human persons, of women that had not known men by lying with him, in all thirty and two thousand.

36 The half that was kept for the soldiers numbered 337,000 sheep.

And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, was, in the number of sheep and goats, three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred.

37 Yahweh's part of the sheep was 675.

And the tribute unto the Lord of the flocks was six hundred and seventy and five.

38 The oxen were thirty-six thousand which Yahweh's tax was seventy-two.

And the beef-cattle were thirty and six thousand; and the tribute thereof unto the Lord was seventy and two.

39 The donkeys were 30,500 from which Yahweh's part was sixty-one.

And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; and the tribute thereof unto the Lord was sixty and one.

40 The persons were sixteen thousand women of whom Yahweh's tax was thirty-two.

And the human persons were sixteen thousand; and the tribute thereof unto the Lord was thirty and two persons.

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.

And Moses gave the tribute, the Lord's heave-offering, unto Elazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

42 As for the people of Israel's half that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war—

And from the half of the children of Israel, which Moses divided off from the men that had gone forth in the army, —

43 the community's half was 337,500 sheep,

(Now the half of the congregation was, of sheep and goats three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand and five hundred.

44 thirty-six thousand oxen,

And beef-cattle, thirty and six thousand,

45 30,500 donkeys,

And asses thirty thousand five hundred,

46 and sixteen thousand women.

And human persons sixteen thousand; )

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.

And Moses took from this half of the children of Israel, as it came, one from every fifty, of man and of cattle, and gave the same unto the Levites, who kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds, came to Moses.

And there came near unto Moses the officers who had been over the thousands of the army, the captains of the thousands, and the captains of the hundreds.

49 They said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our command, and not one man is missing.

And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war who have been under our command, and there lacketh not one man of us.

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.”

We have therefore brought an oblation unto the Lord, each what he hath gotten of vessels of gold, chains, and bracelets, finger-rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord.

51 Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold and all the articles of craftsmanship.

And Moses with Elazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles.

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.

And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from the captains of the thousands, and from the captains of the hundreds.

53 Each soldier had taken plunder, each man for himself.

The men of the army had taken spoil, every man 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.

And Moses and Elazar the priest took the gold from the captains of the thousands and of the hundreds, and they brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, as a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.