Numbers 31

¹The Lord spoke to Moses , saying ,

²Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites . Afterward you shall be gathered to your people .

³So Moses spoke to the people , saying , Arm men from among you for the war , that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord ’s vengeance on Midian .

⁴You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war .

⁵So there were provided , out of the thousands of Israel , a thousand from each tribe , twelve thousand armed for war .

⁶And Moses sent them to the war , a thousand from each tribe , together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest , with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand .

⁷They warred against Midian , as the Lord commanded Moses , and killed every male .

⁸They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain , Evi , Rekem , Zur , Hur , and Reba , the five kings of Midian . And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword .

⁹And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones , and they took as plunder all their cattle , their flocks , and all their goods .

¹⁰All their cities in the places where they lived , and all their encampments , they burned with fire ,

¹¹and took all the spoil and all the plunder , both of man and of beast .

¹²Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses , and to Eleazar the priest , and to the congregation of the people of Israel , at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho .

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

¹⁴And Moses was angry with the officers of the army , the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds , who had come from service in the war .

¹⁵Moses said to them, Have you let all the women live ?

¹⁶Behold , these , on Balaam’s advice , caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor , and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.

¹⁷Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones , and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him .

¹⁸But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.

¹⁹Encamp outside the camp seven days . Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain , purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day .

²⁰You shall purify every garment , every article of skin , all work of goats’ hair , and every article of wood .

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle : This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses :

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

²³everything that can stand the fire , you shall pass through the fire , and it shall be clean . Nevertheless , it shall also be purified with the water for impurity . And whatever cannot stand the fire , you shall pass through the water .

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

²⁵The Lord said to Moses ,

²⁶Take the count of the plunder that was taken , both of man and of beast , you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation ,

²⁷and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation .

²⁸And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle , one out of five hundred , of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks .

²⁹Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord.

³⁰And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty , of the people , of the oxen , of the donkeys , and of the flocks , of all the cattle , and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.

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

³²Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep ,

³³72,000 cattle ,

³⁴61,000 donkeys ,

³⁵and 32,000 persons in all , women who had not known man by lying with him.

³⁶And the half , the portion of those who had gone out in the army , numbered 337,500 sheep ,

³⁷and the Lord ’s tribute of sheep was 675 .

³⁸The cattle were 36,000 , of which the Lord ’s tribute was 72 .

³⁹The donkeys were 30,500 , of which the Lord ’s tribute was 61 .

⁴⁰The persons were 16,000 , of which the Lord ’s tribute was 32 persons .

⁴¹And Moses gave the tribute , which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest , as the Lord commanded Moses .

⁴²From the people of Israel’s half , which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army —

⁴³now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep ,

⁴⁴36,000 cattle ,

⁴⁵and 30,500 donkeys ,

⁴⁶and 16,000 persons —

⁴⁷from the people of Israel’s half Moses took one of every 50 , both of persons and of beasts , and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses .

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

⁴⁹and said to Moses , Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command , and there is not a man missing from us.

⁵⁰And we have brought the Lord ’s offering , what each man found , articles of gold , armlets and bracelets , signet rings , earrings , and beads , to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.

⁵¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold , all crafted articles .

⁵²And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds , was 16,750 shekels .

⁵³(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.)

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