Numbers 31
31
Israel Fights Back Against the Midianites
1The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 2“Moses, tell the Israelites this: ‘Go and attack the Midianites, and do to them what they did to you.’ After that Moses, you will die.”#31:2 you will die Literally, “you will be gathered to your people.”
3So Moses spoke to the people. He said, “Choose some of your men to be soldiers. The Lord will use these men to do to the Midianites what they did to you. 4Choose 1000 men from each of the tribes of Israel. 5There will be a total of 12,000 soldiers from the tribes of Israel.”
6Moses sent these 12,000 men to war. He sent Phinehas son of Eleazar with them as the priest. Phinehas took the holy things and the horns and trumpets with him. 7The Israelites fought the Midianites as the Lord had commanded. They killed all the Midianite men. 8Among the people who they killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with a sword.
9The Israelites took the Midianite women and children as prisoners. They also took all their sheep, cattle, and other things. 10Then they burned all their towns and villages. 11They took all the people and animals 12and brought them to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the other Israelites. They brought all the things they took in war to the camp of Israel. The Israelites were camped in the Jordan Valley in Moab, on the east side of the Jordan River across from Jericho. 13Then Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the people went out of the camp to meet with the soldiers.
14Moses was very angry with the leaders of the army, the commanders of 1000 men, and the commanders of 100 men, who came back from the war. 15Moses said to them, “Why did you let the women live? 16These are the women who listened to Balaam and caused the men of Israel to turn away from the Lord that time at Peor. The disease will come to the Lord’s people again. 17Now, kill all the Midianite boys, and kill all the Midianite women who have had sexual relations with a man. 18You can let all the young girls live—but only if they never had sexual relations with any man. 19And then, all you men who killed other people must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must stay outside the camp even if you just touched a dead body. On the third day you and your prisoners must make yourselves pure. You must do the same thing again on the seventh day. 20You must wash all of your clothes. You must wash anything made with leather, wool, or wood. You must purify yourselves.”
21Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers. He said, “These are the rules that the Lord gave to Moses for soldiers coming back from war. 22-23You must put gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead into the fire and then wash these things with the special water to make them pure. If something can be put in the fire, you must put it in fire to purify it. If things cannot be put in fire, you must still wash them with the special water. 24On the seventh day you must wash all of your clothes. Then you will be pure. After that you can come into camp.”
25Then the Lord said to Moses, 26“You, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders should count all the prisoners, animals, and everything the soldiers took in war. 27Then divide these things between the soldiers who went to war and the rest of the Israelites. 28Take part of these things from the soldiers who went to war. That part will belong to the Lord. His share is one from every 500 items. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, and sheep. 29Take that share from the soldiers’ half of the things they took in war. Then give these things to Eleazar the priest. That part will belong to the Lord. 30And then, from the people’s half, take one thing for every 50 items. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or any other animal. Give that share to the Levites, because they take care of the Lord’s Holy Tent.”
31So Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded Moses. 32The soldiers had taken 675,000 sheep, 3372,000 cattle, 3461,000 donkeys, 35and 32,000 women. (These are only the women who had not had sexual relations with any man.) 36The soldiers who went to war got 337,500 sheep. 37They gave 675 sheep to the Lord. 38The soldiers got 36,000 cattle. They gave 72 cattle to the Lord. 39The soldiers got 30,500 donkeys. They gave 61 donkeys to the Lord. 40The soldiers got 16,000 women. They gave 32 women to the Lord. 41Moses gave all these gifts for the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded him.
42Then Moses counted the people’s half. This was their share that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war. 43The people got 337,500 sheep, 4436,000 cattle, 4530,500 donkeys, 46and 16,000 women. 47Moses took one out of every 50 women and animals. He gave them to the Levites because they took care of the Lord’s Holy Tent. Moses did this as the Lord had commanded.
48Then the leaders of the army (the leaders over 1000 men and the leaders over 100 men) came to Moses. 49They told Moses, “We, your servants, have counted our soldiers. We have not missed any of them. 50So we are bringing the Lord’s gift from every soldier. We are bringing things that are made of gold—armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This gift to the Lord is to make us pure.”
51So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted all these gold items from them. 52The gold that the commanders#31:52 commanders Literally, “leaders of 1000 men.” and captains#31:52 captains Literally, “leaders of 100 men.” gave to the Lord weighed about 424 pounds.#31:52 424 pounds Literally, “16,750 shekels” (190 kg). 53The soldiers kept the rest of their share of the things they took in war. 54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders and captains and then put that gold in the Meeting Tent. This present was a memorial#31:54 memorial Something that helps people remember things that happened in the past. before the Lord for the Israelites.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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.