Numbers 31

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

2 'Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites — afterwards thou art gathered unto thy people.'

“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 And Moses speaketh unto the people, saying, 'Be ye armed some of you for the host, and they are against Midian, to put the vengeance of Jehovah on Midian;

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 a thousand for a tribe — a thousand for a tribe, to all the tribes of Israel — ye do send to the host.'

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

5 And there are given out of the thousands of Israel a thousand for a tribe, twelve thousand armed ones of the host;

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

6 and Moses sendeth them, a thousand for a tribe, to the host, them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the host; and the holy vessels, and the trumpets of the shouting, in his hand.

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 And they war against Midian, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses, and slay every male;

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

8 and the kings of Midian they have slain, besides their pierced ones, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam son of Beor, they have slain with the sword.

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 And the sons of Israel take captive the women of Midian, and their infants; and all their cattle, and all their substance, and all their wealth they have plundered;

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 and all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, they have burnt with fire.

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

11 And they take all the spoil, and all the prey, among man and among beast;

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

12 and they bring in, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the company of the sons of Israel, the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto the camp, unto the plains of Moab, which [are] by Jordan, [near] 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 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the company, go out to meet them, unto the outside of the camp,

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

14 and Moses is wroth against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the host of the battle.

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

15 And Moses saith unto them, 'Have ye kept alive every female?

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

16 lo, they — they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the company of Jehovah.

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 'And now, slay ye every male among the infants, yea, every woman known of man by the lying of a male ye have slain;

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

18 and all the infants among the women, who have not known the lying of a male, ye have kept alive for yourselves.

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

19 'And ye, encamp ye at the outside of the camp seven days — any who hath slain a person, and any who hath come against a pierced one, ye cleanse yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day — ye and your captives;

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 and every garment, and every skin vessel, and every work of goats' [hair], and every wooden vessel, ye yourselves cleanse.'

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

21 And Eleazar the priest saith unto the men of the host who go in to battle, 'This [is] the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded 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 only, the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

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

23 every thing which may go into fire, ye cause to pass over through fire, and it hath been clean; only, with the water of separation it is cleansed, and all that may not go into fire, ye cause to pass over through 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 and ye have washed your garments on the seventh day, and have been clean, and afterwards ye come in unto 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 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

26 'Take up the sum of the prey of the captives, among man and among beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers of the company;

“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 and thou hast halved the prey between those handling the battle who go out to the host and all the company;

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 and thou hast raised a tribute to Jehovah from the men of war, who go out to the host, one body out of five hundred, of man, and of the herd, and of the asses, and of the flock;

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 from their half ye do take, and thou hast given to Eleazar the priest — the heave-offering of Jehovah.

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 sons of Israel's half thou dost take one possession out of fifty, of man, of the herd, of the asses, and of the flock, of all the cattle, and thou hast given them to the Levites keeping the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.'

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 And Moses doth — Eleazar the priest also — as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

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

32 And the prey, the residue of the spoil which the people of the host have spoiled, is of the flock six hundred thousand, and seventy thousand, and five thousand;

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

33 and of the herd two and seventy thousand;

seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 and of asses one and sixty thousand;

sixty-one thousand donkeys,

35 and of human beings — of the women who have not known the lying of a male — all the persons [are] two and thirty thousand.

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

36 And the half — the portion of those who go out into the host — the number of the flock is three hundred thousand, and thirty thousand, and seven thousand and five hundred.

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

37 And the tribute to Jehovah of the sheep is six hundred five and seventy;

Yahweh's part of the sheep was 675.

38 and the herd [is] six and thirty thousand, and their tribute to Jehovah [is] two and seventy;

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

39 and the asses [are] thirty thousand and five hundred, and their tribute to Jehovah [is] one and sixty;

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

40 and the human beings [are] sixteen thousand, and their tribute to Jehovah [is] two and thirty persons.

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

41 And Moses giveth the tribute — Jehovah's heave-offering — to Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

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 And of the sons of Israel's half, which Moses halved from the men who war —

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

43 and the company's half is, of the flock three hundred thousand, and thirty thousand, seven thousand and five hundred;

the community's half was 337,500 sheep,

44 and of the herd six and thirty thousand;

thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 and of asses thirty thousand and five hundred;

30,500 donkeys,

46 and of human beings sixteen thousand —

and sixteen thousand women.

47 Moses taketh from the sons of Israel's half the one possession from the fifty, of man and of beast, and giveth them to the Levites keeping the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

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 And the inspectors whom the thousands of the host hath, (heads of the thousands and heads of the hundreds), draw near unto Moses,

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

49 and they say unto Moses, 'Thy servants have taken up the sum of the men of war who [are] with us, and not a man of us hath been missed;

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

50 and we bring near Jehovah's offering, each that which he hath found, vessels of gold — chain, and bracelet, seal-ring, [ear] -ring, and bead — to make atonement for ourselves before Jehovah.'

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 And Moses receiveth — Eleazar the priest also — the gold from them, every made vessel,

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

52 and all the gold of the heave-offering which they have lifted up to Jehovah is sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from heads of the thousands, and from heads of the hundreds;

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 (the men of the host have spoiled each for himself);

Each soldier had taken plunder, each man for himself.

54 and Moses taketh — Eleazar the priest also — the gold from the heads of the thousands and of the hundreds, and they bring it in unto the tent of meeting — a memorial for the sons of Israel before Jehovah.

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.