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
1And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2Avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites; afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy peoples. 3And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm from amongst you men for military service, that they go against Midian to execute Jehovah's vengeance upon Midian. 4Of every tribe a thousand, of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. 5And there were levied out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand by tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand by the tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, and the holy instruments, even the alarm-trumpets in his hand.
7And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah had commanded Moses, and slew all the males. 8And they slew the kings of Midian, besides the others slain, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 9And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took for a spoil all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods; 10and all their cities in their settlements and all their encampments they burned with fire. 11And they took all the booty, and all the prey, of man and of cattle; 12and they brought to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the assembly of the children of Israel, the captives and the prey and the booty, to the camp in the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan of Jericho.
13And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the assembly went forth to meet them outside the camp. 14And Moses was wroth with the officers of the army, with the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war; 15and Moses said to them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 16Lo, these, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the children of Israel to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague on the assembly of Jehovah. 17And now slay every male among the little ones, and slay every woman that hath known man by lying with him, 18but all the children among the women that have not known lying with a man, keep alive for yourselves. 19And encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever hath killed a person, and whoever hath touched any slain; ye shall purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20And every garment, and every vessel of skin, and all work of goat's hair, and every utensil of wood shall ye purify. 21And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war that had gone to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses. 22Only the gold, and the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23everything that passeth through the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; only it shall be purified with the water of separation; and everything that cannot pass through the fire ye shall make go through the water. 24And ye shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterwards ye may come into the camp.
25And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 26Take the sum of the prey that was taken, of man and of cattle, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the assembly; 27and divide the prey into halves, between them that conducted the war, who went out to the battle, and the whole assembly. 28And thou shalt levy a tribute for Jehovah of the men of war who went out to the army, one soul of five hundred of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the small cattle. 29Of their half shall ye take it, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave-offering of Jehovah. 30And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the small cattle, of every kind of beasts, and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah. 31And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah had commanded Moses. 32And the prey, the rest of the spoil, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33and seventy-two thousand oxen, 34and sixty-one thousand asses, 35and of human persons, of the women that had not known lying with a man, all the persons were thirty-two thousand. 36And the half, the portion of them that had gone out to the war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 37and the tribute for Jehovah of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five; 38and the oxen were thirty-six thousand, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, seventy-two; 39and the asses were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute thereof for Jehovah, sixty-one; 40and the human persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the tribute for Jehovah was thirty-two persons. 41And Moses gave the tribute of Jehovah's heave-offering to Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah had commanded Moses. 42And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses had divided, taking it from the men that served in the war, 43(now the half belonging to the assembly was of the sheep, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred, 44and thirty-six thousand oxen, 45and thirty thousand five hundred asses, 46and sixteen thousand human persons,) 47...of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, of man and of cattle, and gave them to the Levites who kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
48And the officers who were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses, 49and they said to Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war who were under our hand, and there is not one man of us lacking. 50So we present the offering of Jehovah, that which each one hath found, jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah. 51And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, all manner of wrought jewels. 52And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered to Jehovah was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds. 53(The men of war had taken spoil each one for himself.) 54And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.