Bemiḏbar (Numbers) 31
31
1And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
2Take vengeance for the children of Yisra’ĕl on the Miḏyanites. After that you are to be gathered to your people.
3And Mosheh spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for the campaign, and let them go against the Miḏyanites to take vengeance for יהוה on Miḏyan.
4Send a thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Yisra’ĕl for the campaign.
5So there were supplied from the tribes of Yisra’ĕl one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed ones for the campaign.
6And Mosheh sent them on the campaign, one thousand from each tribe, them and Pineḥas son of El‛azar the priest on the campaign, with the set-apart utensils and the trumpets for sounding in his hand.
7And they fought against the Miḏyanites, as יהוה commanded Mosheh, and killed all the males.
8And they killed the sovereigns of Miḏyan with the rest of those who were pierced: Ewi, and Reqem, and Tsur, and Ḥur, and Reḇa, the five sovereigns of Miḏyan. And they killed Bil‛am son of Be‛or with the sword.
9And the sons of Yisra’ĕl took all the women of Miḏyan captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their livestock, and all their possessions.
10And they burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their settlements.
11And they took all the spoil and all the booty, both of man and beast.
12And they brought the captives, and the booty, and the spoil to Mosheh, and to El‛azar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl, to the camp in the desert plains of Mo’aḇ by the Yardĕn of Yeriḥo.
13And Mosheh, and El‛azar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp.
14But Mosheh was wroth with the officers of the army, with the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who had come from the campaign.
15And Mosheh said to them, “Have you kept all the women alive?
16“Look, they are the ones who caused the children of Yisra’ĕl, through the word of Bil‛am, to trespass against יהוה in the matter of Pe‛or, and there was a plague among the congregation of יהוה.
17“And now, kill every male among the little ones. And every woman who has known a man by lying with a man you shall kill.
18“But keep alive for yourselves all the female children who have not known a man by lying with a man.
19“And you, camp outside the camp seven days. Whoever has killed any being, and whoever has touched any slain, cleanse yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.
20And cleanse every garment, and every object of leather and all the work of goats’ hair, and every object of wood.”
21And El‛azar the priest said to the men of the campaign who went to the battle, “This is the law of the Torah which יהוה commanded Mosheh:
22“Only the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23every object that passes through fire, you put through the fire, and it shall be clean; only, let it be cleansed with the water for uncleanness. And whatever does not pass through fire you pass through water.
24“And you shall wash your garments on the seventh day and be clean, and afterwards come into the camp.”
25And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
26“Count up the plunder that was taken, of man and of beast, you and El‛azar the priest and the heads of the fathers of the congregation.
27“And you shall divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the battle, who went out on the campaign, and all the congregation.
28“And set aside a levy for יהוה on the men of battle who went out on the campaign: one out of every five hundred, of man, and of the cattle, and of the donkeys, and of the sheep.
29“Take it from their half, and give it to El‛azar the priest as a contribution to יהוה.
30And from the children of Yisra’ĕl’s half you shall take one of every fifty, of man, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep, of all the livestock, and give them to the Lĕwites guarding the duty of the Dwelling Place of יהוה.
31And Mosheh and El‛azar the priest did as יהוה commanded Mosheh.
32And the booty remaining from the plunder, which the people of the campaign had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
33and seventy-two thousand cattle,
34and sixty-one thousand donkeys,
35and thirty-two thousand human beings in all, of women who had not known a man by lying with a man.
36And the half, the portion for those who went out on the campaign, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
37and the levy unto יהוה of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.
38And the cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the levy unto יהוה was seventy-two.
39And the donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the levy unto יהוה was sixty-one.
40And the human beings were sixteen thousand, of which the levy unto יהוה was thirty-two beings.
41So Mosheh gave the levy which was the contribution unto יהוה to El‛azar the priest, as יהוה commanded Mosheh.
42And from the children of Yisra’ĕl’s half, which Mosheh divided from the men who campaigned:
43now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44and thirty-six thousand cattle,
45and thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46and sixteen thousand human beings.
47Then Mosheh took from the children of Yisra’ĕl’s half: one out of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Lĕwites, who guarded the duty of the Dwelling Place of יהוה, as יהוה commanded Mosheh.
48And the officers who were over thousands of the campaign, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came near to Mosheh,
49and they said to Mosheh, “Your servants have taken a count of the fighting men under our command, and not a man of us is missing.
50So we have brought an offering for יהוה, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before יהוה.
51And Mosheh and El‛azar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments.
52And all the gold of the offering that they presented to יהוה, from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sheqels.
53The men of the campaign had taken spoil, every man for himself.
54And Mosheh and El‛azar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Appointment as a remembrance for the children of Yisra’ĕl before יהוה.
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Bemiḏbar (Numbers) 31: TS2009
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Numbers 31
31
The Holy War against Midian
1The LORD said to Moses, 2“Punish the Midianites for what they did to the people of Israel. After you have done that, you will die.”
3So Moses said to the people, “Get ready for war, so that you can attack Midian and punish them for what they did to the LORD. 4From each tribe of Israel send a thousand men to war.”
5So a thousand men were chosen from each tribe, a total of 12,000 men ready for battle. 6Moses sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took charge of the sacred objects and the trumpets for giving signals. 7They attacked Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed all the men, 8including the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor.
9The people of Israel captured the Midianite women and children, took their cattle and their flocks, plundered all their wealth, 10and burnt all their cities and camps. 11They took all the loot that they had captured, including the prisoners and the animals, 12and brought them to Moses and Eleazar and to the community of the people of Israel, who were at the camp on the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho.
The Army Returns
13Moses, Eleazar, and all the other leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet the army. 14Moses was angry with the officers, the commanders of battalions and companies, who had returned from the war. 15He asked them, “Why have you kept all the women alive? 16#Num 25.1–9Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the LORD. That was what brought the epidemic on the LORD's people. 17So now kill every boy and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse, 18but keep alive for yourselves all the girls and all the women who are virgins. 19Now all of you who have killed anyone or have touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day purify yourselves and the women you have captured. 20You must also purify every piece of clothing and everything made of leather, goats' hair, or wood.”
21Eleazar the priest said to the men who had returned from battle, “These are the regulations that the LORD has given to Moses. 22-23Everything that will not burn, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, is to be purified by passing it through fire. Everything else is to be purified by the water for purification. 24On the seventh day you must wash your clothes; then you will be ritually clean and will be permitted to enter the camp.”
Division of the Loot
25The LORD said to Moses, 26“You and Eleazar, together with the other leaders of the community, are to count everything that has been captured, including the prisoners and the animals. 27Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community. 28From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the LORD one out of every 500 prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the LORD. 30From the part given to the rest of the people, take one out of every fifty prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the LORD's Tent.” 31Moses and Eleazar did what the LORD commanded.
32-35The following is a list of what was captured by the soldiers, in addition to what they kept for themselves: 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins. 36-40The half-share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the LORD; 36,000 cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the LORD; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the LORD; and 16,000 virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the LORD. 41So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the LORD, as the LORD had commanded.
42-46The share of the community was the same as that for the soldiers: 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins. 47From this share Moses took one out of every fifty prisoners and animals, and as the LORD had commanded, gave them to the Levites who were in charge of the LORD's Tent.
48Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses 49and reported, “Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing. 50So we are bringing the gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces that each of us has taken. We offer them to the LORD as a payment for our lives, so that he will protect us.” 51Moses and Eleazar received the gold, all of which was in the form of ornaments. 52The total contribution of the officers weighed nearly 200 kilogrammes. 53Those who were not officers kept the loot they had taken. 54So Moses and Eleazar took the gold to the Tent, so that the LORD would protect the people of Israel.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.