Numbers 31

¹And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Avenge the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianite; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

³And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianite, to put the vengeance of YHWH on Midian.

⁴A thousand from a tribe, a thousand from a tribe, to all the tribes of Israel, you shall send to the war.”

⁵And there were given out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from a tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

⁶And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from a tribe, and he sent them to the war along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and the holy vessels, and the signal and the trumpets in his hand.

⁷And they warred against the Midianite, as YHWH had commanded Moses; and they killed all the males.

⁸And the kings of Midian they killed with their pierced ones—Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five kings of Midian; and Balaam son of Beor they also killed with the sword.

⁹And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian, with their little ones, and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and they plundered all their goods.

¹⁰And also all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts, they burned with the fire.

¹¹And they took all the spoil and all the plunder of the man and the beast.

¹²And they brought to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel the captives, and the plunder, and the spoil—to the camp in the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan near Jericho.

¹³And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them toward the outside of the camp.

¹⁴And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, chiefs of the thousands and chiefs of the hundreds, who were coming in from the battle.

¹⁵And Moses said to them, “Have you kept alive every female?

¹⁶Behold, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against YHWH in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of YHWH.

¹⁷And now kill every male among the little ones, and every woman who has known a man by lying with him you must kill.

¹⁸And every child among the women who have not known the bed of a man, you shall keep alive for yourselves.

¹⁹And as for you, remain outside of the camp seven days; anyone who kills a soul and anyone who touches the slain—you shall cleanse yourselves from sin, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.

²⁰And every garment, and everything made of leather, and everything woven of goats’ hair, and every wood vessel, you shall cleanse yourselves from sin.”

²¹And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that YHWH has commanded Moses:

²²Only the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead—

²³everything that can endure the fire—you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, with the water of purification it shall be cleansed from sin. And all that cannot endure the fire, you shall put through the water.

²⁴And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”

²⁵And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁶“Count up the sum of the plunder that was taken of the man and the beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers of the congregation.

²⁷And divide the plunder between those handling the war who went out to the battle, and between all the congregation.

²⁸And raise a tribute for YHWH from the men of war who went out to battle: One soul of every five hundred, of the persons, and the cattle, and the donkeys, and the sheep.

²⁹From their half you shall take and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to YHWH.

³⁰And from half the sons of Israel, you shall take one portion of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of YHWH.”

³¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as YHWH had commanded Moses.

³²And this was and the plunder remaining from the plunder that the men of war had taken: Six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

³³and of the herd two and seventy thousand,

³⁴and one and sixty thousand donkeys,

³⁵and persons of women who had not known the lying with a man, all the persons, two and thirty thousand.

³⁶And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war: The number of the sheep was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred,

³⁷and the tribute to YHWH of the sheep was six hundred five and seventy.

³⁸And the cattle, six and thirty thousand, and their tribute to YHWH, two and seventy.

³⁹And the donkeys were thirty thousand and five hundred, and their tribute to YHWH one and sixty.

⁴⁰And the persons were sixteen thousand, and their tribute to YHWH two and thirty persons.

⁴¹And Moses gave the tribute—the contribution to YHWH—to Eleazar the priest, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

⁴²And from half of the sons of Israel, which Moses separated from the men who fought;

⁴³and the half belonging to the congregation was: Of the flock three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand, and five hundred,

⁴⁴and of the herd six and thirty thousand,

⁴⁵and donkeys thirty thousand and five hundred,

⁴⁶and persons sixteen thousand.

⁴⁷And Moses took from the sons of Israel half of one possession of every fifty, man and beast, and he gave to them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of YHWH, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

⁴⁸And the officers who were over thousands of the army, captains of the thousands and captains of the hundreds, came near to Moses,

⁴⁹and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing.

⁵⁰And we have brought YHWH an offering for every man from that which he has found, of ornaments of gold, armlets, and bracelets, and signet rings, and earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement upon our souls before the face of YHWH.”

⁵¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them—all the fashioned ornaments.

⁵²And all the gold of the contribution that they lifted up to YHWH was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from captains of the thousands and captains of the hundreds.

⁵³The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.

⁵⁴And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of the thousands and of the hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the face of YHWH.