Numbers31

¹The Lord said to Moses,

²“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

³So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them.

⁴Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.”

⁵So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel.

⁶Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

⁷They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man.

⁸Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.

¹⁰They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.

¹¹They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,

¹²and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

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

¹⁴Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.

¹⁵“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them.

¹⁶“They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people.

¹⁷Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,

¹⁸but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

¹⁹“Anyone who has killed someone or touched someone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives.

²⁰Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is what is required by the law that the Lord gave Moses:

²²Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead

²³and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water.

²⁴On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp.”

²⁵The Lord said to Moses,

²⁶“You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured.

²⁷Divide the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community.

²⁸From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep.

²⁹Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part.

³⁰From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

³¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³²The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep,

³³72,000 cattle,

³⁴61,000 donkeys

³⁵and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

³⁶The half share of those who fought in the battle was: 337,500 sheep,

³⁷of which the tribute for the Lord was 675;

³⁸36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;

³⁹30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;

⁴⁰16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32.

⁴¹Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴²The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men—

⁴³the community’s half—was 337,500 sheep,

⁴⁴36,000 cattle,

⁴⁵30,500 donkeys

⁴⁶and 16,000 people.

⁴⁷From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.

⁴⁸Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses

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

⁵⁰So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”

⁵¹Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles.

⁵²All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.

⁵³Each soldier had taken plunder for himself.

⁵⁴Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.