Numbers31

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

²“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

³So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian.

⁴A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”

⁵So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

⁶Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand.

⁷And they warred against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed all the males.

⁸They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.

⁹And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods.

¹⁰They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts.

¹¹And they took all the spoil and all the booty—of man and beast.

¹²Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.

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

¹⁴But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.

¹⁵And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive?

¹⁶Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.

¹⁷Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately.

¹⁸But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.

¹⁹And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

²⁰Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses:

²²Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

²³everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water.

²⁴And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”

²⁵Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

²⁶“Count up the plunder that was taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation;

²⁷and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.

²⁸And levy a tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep;

²⁹take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord.

³⁰And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

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

³²The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

³³seventy-two thousand cattle,

³⁴sixty-one thousand donkeys,

³⁵and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately.

³⁶And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep;

³⁷and the Lord’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.

³⁸The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was seventy-two.

³⁹The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord’s tribute was sixty-one.

⁴⁰The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was thirty-two persons.

⁴¹So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord’s heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴²And from the children of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who fought—

⁴³now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

⁴⁴thirty-six thousand cattle,

⁴⁵thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,

⁴⁶and sixteen thousand persons—

⁴⁷and from the children of Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses;

⁴⁹and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing.

⁵⁰Therefore we have brought an offering for the Lord, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”

⁵¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments.

⁵²And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

⁵³(The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)

⁵⁴And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.