31:1 The LORD said to Moses,
31:2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”
31:3 So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the LORD’S vengeance on them.
31:4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.”
31:5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel.
31:6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.
31:7 They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man.
31:8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba–the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
31:9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.
31:10 They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.
31:11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,
31:12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.
31:13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.
31:14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army–the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds–who returned from the battle.
31:15 “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them.
31:16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD’S people.
31:17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,
31:18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.
31:19 “All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives.
31:20 Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.”
31:21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the requirement of the law that the LORD gave Moses:
31:22 Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead
31:23 and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water.
31:24 On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp.”
31:25 The LORD said to Moses,
31:26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured.
31:27 Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community.
31:28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the LORD one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats.
31:29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the LORD’S part.
31:30 From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the LORD’S tabernacle.”
31:31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
31:32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep,
31:33 72,000 cattle,
31:34 61,000 donkeys
31:35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.
31:36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was: 337,500 sheep,
31:37 of which the tribute for the LORD was 675;
31:38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the LORD was 72;
31:39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the LORD was 61;
31:40 16,000 people, of which the tribute for the LORD was 32
31:41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the LORD’S part, as the LORD commanded Moses.
31:42 The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men–
31:43 the community’s half–was 337,500 sheep,
31:44 36,000 cattle,
31:45 30,500 donkeys
31:46 and 16,000 people.
31:47 From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty persons and animals, as the LORD commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the LORD’S tabernacle.
31:48 Then the officers who were over the units of the army–the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds–went to Moses
31:49 and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.
31:50 So we have brought as an offering to the LORD the gold articles each of us acquired–armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces–to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”
31:51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold–all the crafted articles.
31:52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.
31:53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself.
31:54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.
31:1 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
31:2 Thoroughly avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people.
31:3 And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm men from among you for the war, that they may come upon Midian to execute Jehovah’s vengeance on Midian.
31:4 A thousand from each tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, you shall send to the war.
31:5 So out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand for each tribe were committed, twelve thousand armed for war.
31:6 And Moses sent them, a thousand for each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest with them, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
31:7 And they warred against Midian, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses; and they killed every male.
31:8 And they killed the kings of Midian in addition to the others slain among them: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; also Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
31:9 And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and all their cattle and all their livestock and all their goods they plundered.
31:10 And all their cities in which they had settled and all their encampments, they burned with fire.
31:11 And they took all the spoil and all the booty, both of man and of beast.
31:12 And they brought the captives and the booty and the spoil to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the assembly of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab, which was beside the Jordan at Jericho.
31:13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them outside the camp.
31:14 And Moses became angry with the officers of the company, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from service in the war.
31:15 And Moses said to them, Have you kept all the women alive?
31:16 It was these who caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to act unfaithfully against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, so that the plague came upon the assembly of Jehovah.
31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by lying with him.
31:18 But all the little ones among the women, who have not known a male by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
31:19 And you, encamp outside the camp seven days, everyone who has killed any person and everyone who has touched any slain; purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
31:20 And you shall purify for yourselves every garment and every article of skin and everything made of goats’ hair and every article of wood.
31:21 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah has commanded Moses:
31:22 Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
31:23 Everything that can go into the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it will become clean; but it shall be purified with the water for impurity; and everything that cannot go into the fire you shall pass through the water.
31:24 And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you may come into the camp.
31:25 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
31:26 You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the assembly, take the sum of the booty that was captured, both of man and of beast,
31:27 And halve the booty between those skilled in war who went out to battle and the whole assembly.
31:28 And levy a tribute to Jehovah from the men of war who went out to battle: one living thing out of five hundred, of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the flock;
31:29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Jehovah’s heave offering.
31:30 And of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one seized out of fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, from all the beasts, and give them to the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.
31:31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Jehovah commanded Moses.
31:32 Now the booty that was left from the spoil, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
31:33 And seventy-two thousand cattle,
31:34 And sixty-one thousand donkeys,
31:35 And thirty-two thousand persons in all, the women who had not known lying with a male.
31:36 And the half which was the portion of those who went out to war was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep.
31:37 And Jehovah’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five.
31:38 And the cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which Jehovah’s tribute was seventy-two.
31:39 And the donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which Jehovah’s tribute was sixty-one.
31:40 And the human beings were sixteen thousand, of whom Jehovah’s tribute was thirty-two persons.
31:41 And Moses gave the tribute, Jehovah’s heave offering, to Eleazar the priest, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
31:42 And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses had separated from the men who had gone to war,
31:43 That is, the assembly’s half, was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
31:44 And thirty-six thousand cattle,
31:45 And thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
31:46 And sixteen thousand persons ?
31:47 Now Moses took from the children of Israel’s half, one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
31:48 And the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, approached Moses.
31:49 And they said to Moses, Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our charge, and not a man is missing from us;
31:50 And we have presented Jehovah’s offering, what every man has obtained, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings and pendants, to make expiation for our souls before Jehovah.
31:51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles.
31:52 And all the gold of the heave offering which they offered up to Jehovah, from the captains of thousands and from the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.
31:53 The men of war had taken booty, each for himself.
31:54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from 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.