Liber Numeri 31
1 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens:
Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and said,
2 Ulciscere prius filios Israel de Madianitis, et sic colligeris ad populum tuum.
“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.”
3 Statimque Moyses, Armate, inquit, ex vobis viros ad pugnam, qui possint ultionem Domini expetere de Madianitis.
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].
4 mille viri de singulis tribubus eligantur ex Israel qui mittantur ad bellum.
Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
5 Dederuntque millenos de singulis tribubus, id est, duodecim millia expeditorum ad pugnam:
So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
6 quos misit Moyses cum Phinees filio Eleazari sacerdotis, vasaque sancta, et tubas ad clangendum tradidit ei.
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].
7 Cumque pugnassent contra Madianitas atque vicissent, omnes mares occiderunt,
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.
8 et reges eorum Evi, et Recem, et Sur, et Hur, et Rebe, quinque principes gentis: Balaam quoque filium Beor interfecerunt gladio.
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.
9 Ceperuntque mulieres eorum, et parvulos, omniaque pecora, et cunctam supellectilem: quidquid habere potuerant depopulati sunt:
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.
10 tam urbes quam viculos et castella flamma consumpsit.
Then they burned down all the houses in the towns and villages where the people of the Midian people-group lived,
11 Et tulerunt praedam, et universa quae ceperant tam ex hominibus quam ex iumentis,
but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
12 et adduxerunt ad Moysen, et Eleazarum sacerdotem, et ad omnem multitudinem filiorum Israel. reliqua autem utensilia portaverunt ad castra in campestribus Moab iuxta Iordanem contra Iericho.
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.
13 Egressi sunt autem Moyses, et Eleazar sacerdos, et omnes principes synagogae in occursum eorum extra castra.
Eleazar and all the leaders of the people and Moses/I went outside the camp to greet/meet with them.
14 Iratusque Moyses principibus exercitus, tribunis, et centurionibus qui venerant de bello,
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.
15 ait: Cur feminas reservastis?
He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
16 Nonne istae sunt, quae deceperunt filios Israel ad suggestionem Balaam, et praevaricari vos fecerunt in Dominum super peccato Phogor, unde et percussus est populus?
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.
17 Ergo cunctos interficite quidquid est generis masculinis, etiam in parvulis: et mulieres, quae noverunt viros in coitu, iugulate:
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.
18 puellas autem et omnes feminas virgines reservate vobis:
Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
19 et manete extra castra septem diebus. Qui occiderit hominem, vel occisum tetigerit, lustrabitur die tertio et septimo.
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.
20 Et de omni praeda, sive vestimentum fuerit, sive vas, et aliquid in utensilia praeparatum, de caprarum pellibus, et pilis, et ligno expiabitur.
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.”
21 Eleazar quoque sacerdos ad viros exercitus, qui pugnaverunt, sic locutus est: Hoc est praeceptum legis, quod mandavit Dominus Moysi:
Then Eleazar said to the soldiers who had returned from the battle, “This is what Yahweh has instructed Moses:
22 Aurum, et argentum, et aes, et ferrum, et plumbum, et stannum,
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].
23 et omne, quod potest transire per flammas, igne purgabitur. quidquid autem ignem non potest sustinere, aqua expiationis sanctificabitur:
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.
24 et lavabitis vestimenta vestra die septimo, et purificati postea castra intrabitis.
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.”
25 Dixit quoque Dominus ad Moysen:
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
26 Tollite summam eorum, quae capta sunt ab homine usque ad pecus, tu et Eleazar sacerdos et principes vulgi:
“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].
27 dividesque ex aequo praedam inter eos, qui pugnaverunt egressique sunt ad bellum, et inter omnem reliquam multitudinem.
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.
28 et separabis partem Domino ab his, qui pugnaverunt et fuerunt in bello, unam animam de quingentis tam ex hominibus quam ex bobus et asinis et ovibus,
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.
29 et dabis eam Eleazaro sacerdoti, quia primitiae Domini sunt.
Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
30 Ex media quoque parte filiorum Israel accipies quinquagesimum caput hominum, et boum, et asinorum, et ovium, cunctorum animantium, et dabis ea Levitis, qui excubant in custodiis tabernaculi Domini.
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.”
31 Feceruntque Moyses, et Eleazar, sicut praeceperat Dominus.
So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
32 Fuit autem praeda, quam exercitus ceperat, ovium sexcenta septuaginta quinque millia,
There were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins that they had captured from the Midian people-group.
33 boum septuaginta duo millia,
34 asinorum sexaginta millia et mille:
35 animae hominum sexus feminei, quae non cognoverant viros, triginta duo millia.
36 Dataque est media pars his, qui in praelio fuerant, ovium trecenta triginta septem millia quingentae:
The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
37 e quibus in partem Domini supputatae sunt oves sexcentae septuaginta quinque.
and they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
38 Et de bobus triginta sex millibus, boves septuaginta et duo:
They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
39 de asinis triginta millibus quingentis, asini sexaginta unus:
They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
40 de animabus hominum sedecim millibus, cesserunt in partem Domini triginta duae animae.
They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
41 Tradiditque Moyses numerum primitiarum Domini Eleazaro sacerdoti, sicut fuerat ei imperatum,
Moses/I gave to Eleazar all [the animals] that had been given to Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded.
42 ex media parte filiorum Israel, quam separaverat his, qui in praelio fuerant.
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,
43 De media vero parte, quae contigerat reliquae multitudini, id est, de ovibus trecentis triginta septem millibus quingentis,
44 et de bobus triginta sex millibus,
45 et de asinis triginta millibus quingentis,
46 et de hominibus sedecim millibus,
47 tulit Moyses quinquagesimum caput, et dedit Levitis, qui excubabant in tabernaculo Domini, sicut praeceperat Dominus.
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.
48 Cumque accessissent principes exercitus ad Moysen, et tribuni, centurionesque dixerunt:
Then the army officers and those who commanded 1,000 men and those who commanded 100 men came to Moses/me.
49 Nos servi tui recensuimus numerum pugnatorum, quos habuimus sub manu nostra: et ne unus quidem defuit.
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).
50 Ob hanc causam offerimus in donariis Domini singuli quod in praeda auri potuimus invenire, periscelides et armillas, annulos et dextralia, ac muraenulas, ut depreceris pro nobis Dominum.
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.”
51 Susceperuntque Moyses, et Eleazar sacerdos omne aurum in diversis speciebus,
So Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
52 pondo sedecim millia, septingentos quinquaginta siclos a tribunis et centurionibus.
The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
53 Unusquisque enim quod in praeda rapuerat, suum erat.
Each soldier had taken these things for himself.
54 Et susceptum intulerunt in tabernaculum testimonii, in monimentum filiorum Israel coram Domino.
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].
