Numbers 31
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “First, avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites, and then you shall be gathered to your people.”
Avenge the wrongs of the children of Israel on the Madianites, and afterwards you shall be added to your people.
3 And immediately Moses said: “Arm the men among you for a battle, so that they may be able to fulfill the retribution of the Lord on the Midianites.
And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm some of you, and set yourselves in array before the Lord against Madian, to inflict vengeance on Madian from the Lord.
4 Let one thousand men be chosen from each tribe of Israel, who shall be sent to war.”
Send a thousand of each tribe from all the tribes of the children of Israel to set themselves in array.
5 And they gave one thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand foot soldiers for battle.
And they numbered of the thousands of Israel a thousand of [each] tribe, twelve thousands; [these were] armed for war.
6 And Moses sent them with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest; also, he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.
And Moses sent them away a thousand of every tribe with their forces, and Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: and the holy instruments, and the signal trumpets [were] in their hands.
7 And when they had fought against the Midianites and had prevailed, they killed all the men.
And they set themselves in array against Madian, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they killed every male.
8 And they put to death by the sword their kings: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five leaders of the nation, and also Balaam the son of Beor.
And they killed the kings of Madian together with their slain [subjects]; even Evi and Rocon, and Sur, and Ur, and Roboc, five kings of Madian; and they killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor with their [other] slain.
9 And they seized their women and little ones, and all their cattle, and all their goods; whatever they were able to have, they despoiled.
And they made a prey of the women of Madian, and their store, and their cattle, and all their possessions: and they spoiled their forces.
10 Both their cities and their villages, as well as their fortresses, they burned.
And they burnt with fire all their cities in the places of their habitation and they burnt their villages with fire.
11 And they carried away prey from everything that they had seized, both of men and of beasts.
And they took all their plunder, and all their spoils, both man and beast.
12 And they led these to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. But the remainder of the articles they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, next to the Jordan, opposite Jericho.
And they brought to Moses and to Eleazar the priest, and to all the children of Israel, the captives, and the spoils, and the plunder, to the camp to Araboth Moab, which is at Jordan by Jericho.
13 Then Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them beyond the camp.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the rulers of the synagogue went forth out of the camp to meet them.
14 And Moses, being angry with the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had arrived from the battle,
And Moses was angry with the captains of the host, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds who came from the battle-array.
15 said: “Why have you spared the females?
And Moses said to them, Why have you saved every female alive?
16 Are not these the ones who deceived the sons of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam, and who caused you betray the Lord by the sin of Peor, because of which the people also were struck down?
For they were [the occasion] to the children of Israel by the word of Balaam of their revolting and despising the word of the Lord, because of Phogor; and there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord.
17 Therefore, put to death all of them: whatever is of the male sex, even among the little ones, and cut the throats of those women who have known men by sexual relations.
Now then kill every male in all the spoil, kill every woman, who has known the lying with man.
18 But the young girls, and all female virgins, reserve for yourselves.
And as for all the captivity of women, who have not known the lying with man, save you them alive.
19 And remain beyond the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a man, or who has touched one that was killed, shall be purified on the third day and on the seventh day.
And you shall encamp outside the [great] camp seven days; every one who has slain and who touches a dead body, shall be purified on the third day, and you and your captivity [shall purify yourselves] on the seventh day.
20 And all of the spoils, whether it is a garment, or a vessel, or another useful thing, made from the pelts or hair of goats, or from wood, shall be expiated.”
And you shall purify every garment and every leather utensil, and all furniture of goat skin, and every wooden vessel.
21 Likewise, Eleazar the priest spoke in this manner to the men of the army who had fought: “This is the precept of the law, which the Lord has commanded Moses:
And Eleazar the priest said to the men of the host that came from the battle-array, This [is] the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses.
22 Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin,
Beside the gold, and the silver, and the brass, and the iron, and lead, and tin,
23 and all that may be able to pass through fire, shall be purified by fire. But whatever is not able to sustain fire shall be sanctified with the waters of expiation.
every thing that shall pass through the fire shall so be clean, nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sanctification; and whatever will not pass through the fire shall pass through water.
24 And you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and, after having been purified, you shall enter the camp.”
And on the seventh day you shall wash your garments, and be clean; and afterwards you shall come into the camp.
25 And the Lord also said to Moses:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
26 “Take the sum of those things which were captured, from man even to beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the common people.
Take the sum of the spoils of the captivity both of man and beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the families of the congregation.
27 And you shall divide the prey equally, among those who went out to war and fought, and among the remainder of the multitude.
And you shall divide the spoils between the warriors that went out to battle, and the whole congregation.
28 And you shall separate a portion for the Lord from the portion of those who fought and were in the battle: one soul out of five hundred, as much from humans, as from oxen and donkeys and sheep.
And you shall take a tribute for the Lord from the warriors that went out to battle; one soul out of five hundred, from the men, and from the cattle, even from the oxen, and from the sheep, and from the asses; and you shall take from their half.
29 And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because these are the first-fruits of the Lord.
And you shall give [them] to Eleazar the priest [as] the first fruits of the Lord.
30 Likewise, from the half of the portion belonging to the sons of Israel, you shall receive the fiftieth head of humans, and of oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and of all living things, and you shall give these to the Levites who stand watch over the care of the tabernacle of the Lord.”
And from the half belonging to the children of Israel you shall take one in fifty from the men, and from the oxen, and from the sheep, and from the asses, and from all the cattle; and you shall give them to the Levites that keep the charges in the tabernacle of the Lord.
31 And Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had instructed.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 Now the prey which the army had seized was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
And that which remained of the spoil which the warriors took, was—of the sheep, six hundred and seventy-five thousand:
33 seventy-two thousand oxen,
and oxen, seventy-two thousand:
34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,
and asses, sixty-one thousand.
35 and thirty-two thousand human lives, of the female sex, who had not known men.
And persons of women who had not known lying with man, all the souls, thirty-two thousand.
36 And one half of the portion was given to those who had been in the battle: three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep.
And the half, [even] the portion of them that went out to war, from the number of the sheep, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.
37 From these, for the portion of the Lord, there were accounted: six hundred seventy-five sheep;
And the tribute to the Lord from the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.
38 and from the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen;
And the oxen, six and thirty thousand, and the tribute to the Lord seventy-two.
39 from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, sixty-one donkeys.
And asses, thirty thousand and five hundred, and the tribute to the Lord, sixty-one:
40 From the sixteen thousand human souls, there fell to the portion of the Lord thirty-two souls.
and the persons, sixteen thousand, and the tribute of them to the Lord, thirty-two souls.
41 And Moses delivered the number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as had been commanded of him,
And Moses gave the tribute to the Lord, the heave-offering of God, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses;
42 from the one half portion belonging to the sons of Israel, which he had separated from the portion of those who had been in the battle.
from the half belonging to the children of Israel, whom Moses separated from the men of war.
43 Yet truly, from the one half portion which fell to the remainder of the multitude, that is, from the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
And the half [taken] from the sheep, belonging to the congregation, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred.
44 and from the thirty-six thousand oxen,
And the oxen, thirty-six thousand;
45 and from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
asses, thirty thousand and five hundred;
46 and from the sixteen thousand persons,
and persons, sixteen thousand.
47 Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites who stand watch at the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had instructed.
And Moses took of the half belonging to the children of Israel the fifties part, of men and of cattle, and he gave them to the Levites who keep the charges of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
48 And when the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions had approached Moses, they said:
And all those who were appointed to be officers of thousands of the host, captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, approached Moses, and said to Moses,
49 “We, your servants, have taken a census of the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and indeed not one was lacking.
Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war with us, and not one is missing.
50 For this reason, we offer as gifts to the Lord whatever gold each one was able to find amid the spoils, in anklets and arm bands, rings and bracelets, and little chains, so that you may intercede for us to the Lord.”
And we have brought our gift to the Lord, [every] man who has found an article of gold, whether an armlet, or a chain, or a ring, or a bracelet, or a clasp for hair, to make atonement for us before the Lord.
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in its various kinds,
And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even every wrought article.
52 weighing sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels, from the tribunes and the centurions.
And all the wrought gold, even the offering that they offered to the Lord, was sixteen thousand and seven hundred and fifty shekels from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds.
53 For whatever each one had taken away in the spoils was his own.
For the men of war took plunder every one for himself.
54 And having been accepted, they took it into the tabernacle of the testimony, as a memorial of the sons of Israel before the Lord.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and brought the vessels into the tabernacle of witness, a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.
