Numbers 31

1 The Lord told Moses,

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

2 “Punish the Midianites because of what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your forefathers in death.”

Exact thou the avenging of the sons of Israel, from the Midianites, —and, afterwards, shalt thou be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk.

3 Moses instructed the people, “Have some of your men get ready for battle, so they can go and attack the Midianites and carry out the Lord's punishment on them.

So Moses spake unto the people saying, Arm ye from among you men, for the war, and let them go against Midian, to render the avenging of Yahweh upon Midian.

4 You are to contribute one thousand men from each Israelite tribe.”

A thousand from each tribe, —of all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send forth unto the war.

5 So one thousand men were chosen from each Israelite tribe, making twelve thousand troops ready for battle.

And there volunteered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of each tribe, —twelve thousand, armed for war.

6 Moses sent them into battle, one thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest. He carried with him the holy objects from the sanctuary and the trumpets used for giving signals.

And Moses sent them a thousand of each tribe to the war, —them, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary, and the alarm trumpets, in his hand.

7 They attacked the Midianites, as the Lord had told Moses to do, and they killed all the men.

So they made war upon Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses, and slew every male:

8 Among those killed were the five kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword.

and the kings of Midian, slew they besides their other slain namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian, —Balaam also, son of Beor, slew they with the sword.

9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took as plunder all their herds, flocks, and possessions.

And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, —all their cattle also and all their flocks and all their substance, carried they off as a prey;

10 They set fire to all the Midianite towns and camps where they had lived,

all their cities also in their sites, and all their encampments, burned they up with fire.

11 and carried away all the plunder and loot, including people and animals.

Then took they all the spoil, and all the booty, —both of man and beast;

12 They brought the prisoners, loot, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the rest of the Israelites where they were camped on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan opposite Jericho.

and brought in unto Moses and unto Eleazar the priest and unto the assembly of the sons of Israel—the captives and the booty, and the spoil unto the camp, —unto the waste plains of Moab, which are by Jordan, near Jericho.

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the Israelite leaders went out of the camp to meet them.

And Moses, and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the assembly, went forth to meet them, —unto the outside of the camp.

14 Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who returned from the battle.

Then was Moses sore displeased with the officers of the force, —the princes of thousands, and the princes of hundreds who were coming in from the warring host.

15 “Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.

And Moses said unto them, —Have ye saved alive every female?

16 “You realize that these were the women seduced the Israelite men, leading them to be unfaithful to the Lord at Peor, following Balaam's advice! That's why the Lord's people suffered from the plague!

Lo! they, became unto the sons of Israel, by the advice of Balaam, the cause of daring acts of treachery against Yahweh, over the affair of Peor, —and then came the plague against the assembly of Yahweh!

17 So go and kill all the boys and every woman who has had slept with a man.

Now, therefore, slay ye every male among the young, —every woman also that hath cohabited with man, slay ye.

18 Let all the girls who are virgins live. They are yours.

But all the young of womankind that have, not cohabited with man, preserve alive for yourselves.

19 All those of you who killed someone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. Purify yourselves and your prisoners on the third day and the seventh day.

Ye, then, pitch outside the camp, for seven days, —whosoever hath killed a person and whoever hath touched the slain, cleanse yourselves (from sin) on the third day and on the seventh day ye and your captives,

20 Also purify all your clothing garment and anything made of leather, goat's hair, or wood.”

Every garment also, and every article of skin and every thing made of goat’s-hair, and every article of wood, shall ye cleanse (from sin).

21 Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone into battle, “These are the legal regulations that the Lord has ordered Moses to be carried out:

Then said Eleazar the priest unto the men of the host, who had been to the war: This, is the statute of the law, which Yahweh hath commanded Moses:

22 All that's made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—

Surely the gold and the silver, —the bronze the iron, the tin and the lead,

23 anything that doesn't burn—must be put through fire to make it clean. But it still has to be purified using water of purification. Anything that burns must be put through the water.

whatsoever thing can go into fire, ye shall pass through fire and it shall be clean, only with the water of separation, shall ye cleanse it (from sin). But whatsoever cannot go into fire, ye shall pass through water.

24 Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean. Then you can enter the camp.”

And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and be clean, —and after-wards, shall ye come into the camp.

25 The Lord told Moses,

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

26 “You, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite family leaders are to take a record of the people and animals that were captured.

Reckon thou up the sum of the booty that was captured, both of man and of beast, —thou and Eleazar the priest, and the ancestral heads of the assembly;

27 Then divide them between the troops who went into battle and the rest of the Israelites.

and divide the booty into two parts, between them who took upon them the war, who went out in the host, —and all the [rest of the] assembly.

28 Take as a contribution to the Lord from what is allocated to the troops who went into battle one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.

Then shalt thou levy a tribute unto Yahweh—from the men of war, who went forth in the host, one living thing, out of five hundred, —of the human beings, and of the herd, and of the asses and of the flock:

29 Take this from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.

out of their half, shall ye take [them], —and thou shall give [them] unto Eleazar the priest as a heave-offering unto Yahweh.

30 From the Israelites; half share, take one out of every fifty people, cattle, donkeys, or sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who take care of the Lord's Tabernacle.”

And out of the half allotted to the sons of Israel, shalt thou take one allotted portion out of fifty of the human beings, of the herd, of the asses and of the flock of all the cattle, —and shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the habitation of Yahweh.

31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had ordered Moses.

And Moses and Eleazar the priest did, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.

32 This was the list of plunder remaining that had been looted by the troops: 675,000 sheep,

And it came to pass that the booty, over and above the prey which the people of the host had seized, was, —of the flock, six hundred and seventy-five thousand;

33 72,000 cattle,

and, of the herd, seventy-two thousand;

34 61,000 donkeys,

and, of the asses, sixty-one thousand;

35 and 32,000 virgins.

and, of the human persons, even of the woman-kind who had not cohabited with man, —all the persons, thirty-two thousand.

36 This was the half share for those who had gone to fight: 337,500 sheep,

And the half, the share of them who had gone forth in the host, was, —the number of the flock—three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred;

37 with a contribution for the Lord of 675,

and so, the tribute unto Yahweh, out of the flock, was—six hundred and seventy-five;

38 36,000 cattle, with a Lord's contribution of 72,

and the herd, thirty-six thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh—seventy-two;

39 30,500 donkeys, with a Lord's contribution of 61,

and the asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, sixty-one;

40 and 16,000 people, with a Lord's contribution of 32.

and the human persons, sixteen thousand, —and the tribute of them unto Yahweh, thirty-two persons.

41 Moses gave the contribution to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord as the Lord had ordered Moses.

And Moses gave the tribute—the heave-offering of Yahweh, unto Eleazar the priest, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.

42 The Israelites' half share left after Moses had given the half share to the troops who had gone to fight,

And, of the half, allotted unto the sons of Israel, —which Moses halved away from the men who had gone out in the host,

43 consisted of: 337,500 sheep,

the half allotted unto the assembly, was—of the flock, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, and five hundred;

44 36,000 cattle,

and, of the herd, six and thirty thousand;

45 30,500 donkeys,

and, of asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;

46 and 16,000 people.

and, human persons, sixteen thousand.

47 Moses took from the Israelites' half one out of every fifty people and animals and gave them the Levites who take care of the Lord's Tabernacle, as the Lord had ordered him.

So then Moses took—out of the half belonging to the sons of Israel the allotted portion one out of fifty, of the human beings and of the beasts, —and gave them unto the Levites, the keepers of the charge of the habitation of Yahweh, As Yahweh commanded Moses.

48 The army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came to Moses

Then came near unto Moses the officers who belonged unto the thousands of the host, —the princes of thousands and the princes of hundreds;

49 and told him, “We, your servants, have checked the troops we command and not a single man is missing.

and said unto Moses, Thy servants have reckoned up the sum of the men of war who are in our hand, —and there is not missed from among us, a man!

50 So we have brought the Lord an offering of the gold objects each man received—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—in order that we may be right before the Lord.”

Therefore have we brought near an offering unto Yahweh, what, each man, hath found—articles of gold, ankle chains and bracelets, rings earrings and buckles, —to put a propitiatory-covering over our souls before Yahweh.

51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them all the objects made out of gold.

So Moses, and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, —all the wrought articles.

52 The gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds gave as an offering to the Lord weighed in total 16,750 shekels.

And all the gold of the heave-offering which they offered up unto Yahweh, was—sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, —of the princes of thousands, and of the princes of hundreds.

53 (The men who had fought in the battle had each taken plunder for himself.)

The men of the host, had taken prey, each man for himself.

54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and took it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial offering for the Israelites in the presence of the Lord.

So then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the princes of thousands, and hundreds, —and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the sons of Israel before Yahweh.