Numbers 31

1 And the Lord spak to Moyses, and seide,

Then the Lord said to Moses,

2 Venge thou firste the sones of Israel of Madianytis, and so thou schalt be gaderid to thi puple.

Give the Midianites punishment for the wrong they did to the children of Israel: and after that you will go to rest with your people.

3 And anoon Moises seide, Arme ye men of you to batel, that moun take of Madianytis the veniaunce of the Lord.

So Moses said to the people, Let men from among you be armed for war to put into effect against Midian the Lord's punishment on them.

4 Of ech lynage be chosun a thousynde men of Israel, that schulen be sent to batel.

From every tribe of Israel send a thousand to the war.

5 And of ech lynage thei yauen a thousynde, that is twelue thousynde of men, redi to batel;

So from the thousands of Israel a thousand were taken from every tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war.

6 whiche Moises sente with Fynees, the sone of Eleazar, preest. And he bitook to hem hooli vesselis, and trumpis to make sown.

And Moses sent them out to war, a thousand from every tribe, and with them Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, taking in his hands the vessels of the holy place and the horns for sounding the note of war.

7 And whanne thei hadden fouyt ayens Madianytis, and hadden ouercome, thei killiden alle the malis,

And they made war on Midian, as the Lord gave orders to Moses; and they put to death every male.

8 and `the kyngis of hem, Euy, and Reem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, fyue princes of `the folc of hem. Also thei killiden bi swerd Balaam, the sone of Beor.

They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword.

9 And thei token the wymmen of hem, and the litle children, and alle beestis, and al purtenaunce of howshold; what euer thei myyten haue, thei spuyleden;

The women of Midian with their little ones the children of Israel took prisoner; and all their cattle and flocks and all their goods they took for themselves;

10 flawme brente as wel citees, as litle townes and castels.

And after burning all their towns and all their tent-circles,

11 And they token pray, and alle thingis whiche thei hadden take, as wel of men as of beestis, and thei brouyten to Moyses,

They went away with the goods they had taken, man and beast.

12 and to Eleazar, preest, and to al the multitude of the sones of Israel. Forsothe thei baren othere `thingis perteynynge to vss, to the castels in the feldi places of Moab bisidis Jordan, ayens Jericho.

And the prisoners and the goods and everything they had taken, they took to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the people of Israel, to the tent-circle in the lowlands of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 Moises and Eleazar, preest, and alle the princes of the synagoge, yeden out in to the comyng of hem, with out the castels, `that is, of the tabernacle.

Then Moses and Eleazar the priest and the chiefs of the people went out to them before they had come into the tent-circle.

14 And Moises was wrooth to the princes of the oost, to tribunes, and centuriouns, that camen fro batel;

And Moses was angry with the chiefs of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come back from the war.

15 and he seide, Whi reserueden ye wymmen?

And Moses said to them, Why have you kept all the women safe?

16 whether it be not these that disseyueden the sones of Israel, at the suggestioun of Balaam, and maden you to do trespas ayens the Lord, on the synne of Phegor, wherfor also the puple was slayn?

It was these who, moved by Balaam, were the cause of Israel's sin against the Lord in the question of Peor, because of which disease came on the people of the Lord.

17 And therfor sle ye alle men, what euer thing is of male kynde, and litle children; and strangle ye the wymmen that knew men fleischli;

So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man.

18 forsothe reserue ye to you damesels, and alle wymmen virgyns,

But all the female children who have had no sex relations with men, you may keep for yourselves.

19 and dwelle ye with out the castels in seuene daies. He that sleeth a man, ether touchith a slayn man, schal be clensid in the thridde and the seuenthe dai;

You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.

20 and of al the pray, whether it is clooth, ether vessel, and ony thing maad redi in to thingis perteynynge to vss, of the skynnys and heeris of geet, and `of tre, it schal be clensid.

And every bit of clothing, and anything made of leather or goats' hair or wood, you are to make clean.

21 And Eleazar, preest, spak thus to the men of the oost that fouyten, This is the comaundement of the lawe, which the Lord comaundide to Moises,

Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had been to the fight, This is the rule of the law which the Lord has given to Moses:

22 The gold, and siluer, and bras, and yrun, and tiyn, and leed, and al thing that may passe by flawme, schal be purgid bi fier;

But gold and silver and brass and iron and tin and lead,

23 sotheli what euer thing may not suffre fier, schal be halewid bi the watir of clensyng.

And anything which may be heated, is to go through the fire and be made clean; but in addition it is to be put in the water of cleaning: and anything which may not go through the fire is to be put in the water.

24 And ye schulen waische youre clothis in the seuenthe dai, and ye schulen be clensid; and aftirward ye schulen entre in to the castels `of the tabernacle.

And on the seventh day, after washing your clothing, you will be clean, and then you may come into the tent-circle.

25 And the Lord seide to Moises, Take ye the summe of tho thingis that ben takun, fro man `til to beeste,

And the Lord said to Moses,

26 thou, and Eleazar, preest, and alle the princes of the comyn puple.

Get an account of everything which was taken in the war, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of families of the people:

27 And thou schalt departe euenli the prey bytwixe hem that fouyten and yeden out to batel, and bitwixe al the multitude.

And let division be made of it into two parts, one for the men of war who went out to the fight, and one for all the people:

28 And thou schalt departe a part to the Lord, of hem that fouyten, and weren in batel, `o soule of fiue hundrid, as wel of men, as of oxun, and of assis, and of scheep.

And from the men of war who went out let there be offered to the Lord one out of every five hundred, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep:

29 And thou schalt yyue `that part to Eleazar, preest, for tho ben the firste fruytis of the Lord.

Take this from their part and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to be lifted up to the Lord.

30 Also of the myddil part of the sones of Israel, thou schalt take the fiftithe heed of men, and of oxun, and of assis, and of scheep, and of alle lyuynge beestis; and thou schalt yyue tho to the dekenes, that waken in the kepyngis of the tabernacle of the Lord.

And from the part given to the children of Israel, take one out of every fifty, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep, and give it to the Levites who have the care of the House of the Lord.

31 And Moyses and Eleazar diden, as the Lord comaundide.

So Eleazar and Moses did as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

32 Forsothe the prey which the oost hadde take, was sixe hundrid fyue and seuenti thousynde of scheep,

Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 of oxun two and seuenti thousynde,

And seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 of assis sixti thousynde and a thousynde;

And sixty-one thousand asses;

35 the soules of persones of femal kynde, that knewen not fleischli men, two and thretti thousynde.

And thirty-two thousand persons, that is, women who had never had sex relations with a man.

36 And the myddil part was youun to hem that weren in the batel, of scheep thre hundrid seuene and thretti thousynde and fyue hundrid;

And the half given as their part to the men who went to the war, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

37 of whiche sixe hundrid fyue and seuenti scheep weren noumbrid in to the part of the Lord;

Of which the Lord's part was six hundred and seventy-five.

38 and of sixe and thretti thousynde oxun,

The number of oxen was thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's part was seventy-two;

39 two and seuenti oxun, and of thretti thousynde assis and fyue hundryd, oon and sixti assis;

The number of asses was thirty thousand, five hundred, of which the Lord's part was sixty-one.

40 of sixtene thousynde persoones of men, twei and thretti persoones bifelden in to the `part of the Lord.

And the number of persons was sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's part was thirty-two persons.

41 And Moises bitook the noumbre of the firste fruytis of the Lord to Eleazar, preest, as it was comaundid to hym,

And Moses gave the Lord's part, lifted up as an offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

42 of the myddil part of the sones of Israel, which he departide to hem that weren in batel.

And from the half given to the children of Israel, which Moses had kept separate from that given to the fighting-men,

43 And of the myddil part that bifelde to the tother multitude, that is, of thre hundrid seuene and thretti thousynde scheep and fyue hundrid,

(Now the people's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

44 and of sixe and thretti thousynde oxun,

And thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 and of thretti thousynde assis and fyue hundrid, and of sixtene thousynde wymmen,

And thirty thousand, five hundred asses,

46 Moyses took the fyftithe heed,

And sixteen thousand persons; )

47 and yaf to the dekenes, that wakiden in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord comaundide.

Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

48 And whanne the princes of the oost, and the tribunes and centuriouns hadden neiyed to Moises,

Then the men in authority over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came to Moses,

49 thei seiden, We thi seruauntis han teld the noumbre of fiyters, whiche we hadden vndur oure hoond, and sotheli not oon failide;

And said to him, Your servants have taken note of the number of all the fighting-men under our orders, and every one is present;

50 for which cause we offren `in the fre yiftis of the Lord, alle bi vs silf, that that we myyten fynde of gold in the pray, girdelis for `the myddil of wymmen, and bies of the armes, and ryngis, and ournementis of the arm nyy the hond, and bies of the neckis of wymmen, that thou preye the Lord for vs.

And we have here an offering for the Lord from what every man took in the war, ornaments of gold, leg-chains and arm-rings, finger-rings, ear-rings, and neck-ornaments, to make our souls free from sin before the Lord.

51 And Moises and Eleazar, preest, token al the gold in dyuerse spices,

So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even all the worked ornaments.

52 `ether kyndis, bi the weiyte of the seyntuarye, sixtene thousynde seuene hundrid and fifti siclis, of the tribunes, and centuriouns.

And the gold which the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds gave, as an offering to be lifted up before the Lord, came to sixteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53 For that that ech man rauyschide in the prey, was his owne;

(For every man of the army had taken goods for himself in the war.)

54 and thei baren the gold taken in to the tabernacle of witnessyng, in to the mynde of the sones of Israel, bifor the Lord.

Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold given by the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and took it into the Tent of meeting, to be a sign in memory of the children of Israel before the Lord.