Numbers 31
31
Israel's War against Midian
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Before you die, make sure that the Midianites are punished for what they did to Israel.”#31.2 Midianites … to Israel: See 25.1-18.
3Then Moses told the people, “The Lord wants to punish the Midianites. So tell our men to prepare for battle. 4Each tribe will send 1,000 men to fight.”
5Twelve thousand men were picked from the tribes of Israel, and after they were prepared for battle, 6Moses sent them off to war. Phinehas the son of Eleazar went with them and took along some things from the sacred tent#31.6 Phinehas … sacred tent: Phinehas would serve as the priest during the battle, so he took along the things needed to ask God what he wanted done. and the trumpets for sounding the battle signal.
7The Israelites fought against the Midianites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. They killed all the men, 8including Balaam son of Beor and the five Midianite kings, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. 9The Israelites captured every woman and child, then led away the Midianites' cattle and sheep, and took everything else that belonged to them. 10They also burned down the Midianite towns and villages.
11Israel's soldiers gathered together everything they had taken from the Midianites, including the captives and the animals. 12-13Then they returned to their own camp in the hills of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, where Moses, Eleazar, and the other Israelite leaders met the troops outside camp.
14Moses became angry with the army commanders 15and said, “I can't believe you let the women live! 16#Nu 25.1-9. They are the ones who followed Balaam's advice and invited our people to worship the god Baal Peor. That's why the Lord punished us by killing so many of our people. 17You must put to death every boy and all the women who have ever had sex. 18But do not kill the young women who have never had sex. You may keep them for yourselves.”
19Then Moses said to the soldiers, “If you killed anyone or touched a dead body, you are unclean and have to stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh days, you must go through a ceremony to make yourselves and your captives clean. 20Then wash your clothes and anything made from animal skin, goat's hair, or wood.”
21-23Eleazar then explained, “If you need to purify something that won't burn, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, you must first place it in a hot fire. After you take it out, sprinkle it with the water that purifies. Everything else should only be sprinkled with the water. Do all of this, just as the Lord commanded Moses. 24Wash your clothes on the seventh day, and after that, you will be clean and may return to the camp.”
Everything Taken from the Midianites Is Divided
25The Lord told Moses:
26-27Make a list of everything taken from the Midianites, including the captives and the animals. Then divide them between the soldiers and the rest of the people. Eleazar the priest and the family leaders will help you.
28-29From the half that belongs to the soldiers, set aside for the Lord one out of every 500 people or animals and give these to Eleazar.
30From the half that belongs to the people, set aside one out of every 50 and give these to the Levites in charge of the sacred tent.
31Moses and Eleazar followed the Lord's instructions 32-35and listed everything that had been taken from the Midianites. The list included 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 young women who had never had sex.
36-47Each half included 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 young women. From the half that belonged to the soldiers, Moses counted out 675 sheep and goats, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys, and 32 women and gave them to Eleazar to be dedicated to the Lord. Then from the half that belonged to the people, Moses set aside one out of every 50 animals and women, as the Lord had said, and gave them to the Levites.
48The army commanders went to Moses 49and said, “Sir, we have counted our troops, and not one soldier is missing. 50So we want to give the Lord all the gold jewelry we took from the Midianites. It's our gift to him for watching over us and our troops.”
51Moses and Eleazar accepted the jewelry from the commanders, 52and its total weight was over 200 kilograms. 53This did not include the things that the soldiers had kept for themselves. 54So Moses and Eleazar placed the gold in the Lord's sacred tent to remind Israel of what had happened.#31.54 to remind … happened: Or “so the Lord would continue to help Israel.”
Currently Selected:
Numbers 31: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Numbers 31
31
Campaign Against the Midianites. 1The Lord said to Moses:#The narrative of Israel’s campaign against Midian, which was interrupted after 25:18, is now resumed. 2Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites, and then you will be gathered to your people. 3So Moses told the people, “Arm some men among you for the campaign, to attack Midian and to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. 4From each of the tribes of Israel you will send a thousand men to the campaign.” 5From the contingents of Israel, therefore, a thousand men of each tribe were levied, so that there were twelve thousand men armed for war. 6Moses sent them out on the campaign, a thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest for the campaign, who had with him the sacred vessels and the trumpets for sounding the alarm. 7They waged war against the Midianites, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8Besides those slain in battle, they killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian;#The five kings of Midian: they are called Midianite princes, Sihon’s vassals, in Jos 13:21. and they also killed Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword. 9But the Israelites took captive the women of the Midianites with their children, and all their herds and flocks and wealth as loot, 10while they set on fire all the towns where they had settled and all their encampments. 11Then they took all the plunder, with the people and animals they had captured, and brought the captives, together with the spoils and plunder, 12to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the Israelite community at their camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Treatment of the Captives. 13When Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the leaders of the community, went outside the camp to meet them, 14Moses became angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the military campaign. 15“So you have spared all the women!” he exclaimed. 16“These are the very ones who on Balaam’s advice were behind the Israelites’ unfaithfulness to the Lord in the affair at Peor,#2 Pt 2:15; Rev 2:14. so that plague struck the Lord’s community. 17#There are later references to Midian in Jgs 6–8; 1 Kgs 11:18; Is 60:6. The present raid was only against those Midianites who were dwelling at this time near the encampment of the Israelites. Now kill, therefore, every male among the children and kill every woman who has had sexual relations with a man. 18But you may spare for yourselves all the girls who have not had sexual relations.
Purification After Combat. 19“Moreover, remain outside the camp for seven days; every one of you who has killed anyone or touched someone killed will purify yourselves on the third and on the seventh day—both you and your captives. 20You will also purify every garment, every article of leather, everything made of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”
21Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had taken part in the battle: “This is the prescribed ritual which the Lord has commanded Moses: 22gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead— 23whatever can stand fire—you shall put into the fire, that it may become clean; however, it must also be purified with water of purification.#Water of purification: water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer as prescribed in 19:9. But whatever cannot stand fire you must put into the water. 24On the seventh day you will wash your garments, and then you will again be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”
Division of the Spoils. 25The Lord said to Moses: 26With the help of Eleazar the priest and of the heads of the ancestral houses of the community, inventory all the spoils captured, human being and beast alike; 27then divide the spoils#Divide the spoils: for a similar division of the plunder into two equal parts, between those who engaged in the battle and those who stayed with the baggage, cf. 1 Sm 30:24. But note that here the tax on the plunder of the noncombatants is ten times as much as that on the soldiers’ plunder. between the warriors who went on the campaign and the whole community. 28You will levy a tax for the Lord on the soldiers who went on the campaign: one out of every five hundred persons, oxen, donkeys, and sheep. 29From their half you will take it and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. 30From the Israelites’ half you will take one captive from every fifty human beings, oxen, donkeys, and sheep—all the animals—and give them to the Levites, who perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle. 31So Moses and Eleazar the priest did this, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Amount of the Plunder. 32This plunder, what was left of the loot which the troops had taken, amounted to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33seventy-two thousand oxen, 34sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35and thirty-two thousand women who had not had sexual relations.
36The half-share that fell to those who had gone out on the campaign was in number: three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 37of which six hundred and seventy-five fell as tax to the Lord; 38thirty-six thousand oxen, of which seventy-two fell as tax to the Lord; 39thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, of which sixty-one fell as tax to the Lord; 40and sixteen thousand persons, of whom thirty-two persons fell as tax to the Lord. 41Moses gave the taxes contributed to the Lord to Eleazar the priest, exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42As for the Israelites’ half, which Moses had taken from the men who had fought— 43the community’s half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44thirty-six thousand oxen, 45thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46and sixteen thousand persons. 47From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one captive from every fifty, from human being and beast alike, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle, exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Gifts of the Officers. 48Then those who were officers over the contingents of the army, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came up to Moses 49and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing. 50#The precise nature and use of some of these articles of gold is not certain. So, we have brought as an offering to the Lord articles of gold that each of us has picked up—anklets, bracelets, rings, earrings, or pendants—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from them, all fashioned pieces. 52The gold that was given as a contribution to the Lord—from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds—amounted in all to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53What the common soldiers had looted each one kept for himself.#Apparently because of the commanders’ generosity the common troops were under no sort of obligation to make their own offerings and could keep their loot. 54So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and put it in the tent of meeting as a reminder on behalf of the Israelites before the Lord.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc