Numbers 31
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and said,
2 “First, avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites, and then you shall be gathered to your people.”
“Before you die, [tell the] Israeli people that they should (pay back/get revenge on) the Midian people-group for what they did to you.”
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.
So Moses/I said to the people, “Get some men prepared for battle. Yahweh will enable them to (pay back/get revenge on) the Midian people-group [for what they did to us].
4 Let one thousand men be chosen from each tribe of Israel, who shall be sent to war.”
Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
5 And they gave one thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand foot soldiers for battle.
So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
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.
When Moses/I sent them to the battle, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, went with them. He took with him some of the things from the Sacred Tent and the trumpets that would be blown to give the signal [to start the battle].
7 And when they had fought against the Midianites and had prevailed, they killed all the men.
The Israeli men fought the soldiers from the Midian people-group, as Yahweh had told Moses/me to tell them to do, and they killed every man from the Midian people-group.
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.
Among those whom they killed were the five kings of the Midian people-group—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed with a sword Balaam, the son of Beor.
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.
They captured all the women and children of the Midian people-group and took away their cattle, their flocks of sheep, and herds of goats, and all their other possessions.
10 Both their cities and their villages, as well as their fortresses, they burned.
Then they burned down all the houses in the towns and villages where the people of the Midian people-group lived,
11 And they carried away prey from everything that they had seized, both of men and of beasts.
but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
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.
They brought all these to Eliezer and Moses/me, and to the rest of the Israeli people who were at their/our camp on the plains where the Moab people-group lived, near the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
13 Then Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them beyond the camp.
Eleazar and all the leaders of the people and Moses/I went outside the camp to greet/meet with them.
14 And Moses, being angry with the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had arrived from the battle,
But Moses/I was angry with some of the men who had returned from the battle. He/I was angry with the army officers and the men who were commanders of 1,000 men and those who were commanders of 100 men.
15 said: “Why have you spared the females?
He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
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?
They are the ones who did what Balaam suggested and urged/persuaded our people to worship Baal [instead of Yahweh]. As a result, Yahweh caused a plague to strike his people while they were at Peor.
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.
So, now you must kill all the boys of the Midian people-group, and also kill all the women who have had sex [EUP] with any man.
18 But the young girls, and all female virgins, reserve for yourselves.
Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
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.
All of you who have killed someone or touched the corpse of someone who was killed [in the battle] must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day, you must [perform the ritual to] cause you and those whom you have captured to become acceptable to God again.
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.”
You must also wash your clothes and anything [that you took to the battle] that is made of leather or goat’s hair or wood.”
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:
Then Eleazar said to the soldiers who had returned from the battle, “This is what Yahweh has instructed Moses:
22 Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin,
You must put into a fire any gold or silver or bronze or iron or tin or lead things [that you brought back from the battle].
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.
Put everything that will not burn into the fire, and then they will be acceptable for you to use. But also sprinkle those things with the water that causes things and people to become acceptable to God. The things that would burn [if you put them] in a fire, sprinkle them with that water.
24 And you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and, after having been purified, you shall enter the camp.”
On the seventh day, wash your clothes, and then you will become acceptable to God again. After you do that, you may return to the camp.”
25 And the Lord also said to Moses:
Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
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.
“Tell Eleazar and the leaders of the family groups that they must write down a list of all the goods, the women, and the animals that were captured [in the battle].
27 And you shall divide the prey equally, among those who went out to war and fought, and among the remainder of the multitude.
Then they must divide all those things, half given to the men who fought in the battle and the other half given to the rest of the people.
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.
From the men who fought in the battle, take one from every 500 people and from every 500 cattle and donkeys and sheep, to be a tax for me.
29 And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because these are the first-fruits of the Lord.
Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
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 that belongs to the ordinary people, take one item from every 50. That includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and other animals. Give those things to the descendants of Levi who take care of my Sacred Tent.”
31 And Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had instructed.
So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
32 Now the prey which the army had seized was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
There were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins that they had captured from the Midian people-group.
33 seventy-two thousand oxen,
34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,
35 and thirty-two thousand human lives, of the female sex, who had not known men.
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.
The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
37 From these, for the portion of the Lord, there were accounted: six hundred seventy-five sheep;
and they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
38 and from the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen;
They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
39 from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, sixty-one donkeys.
They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
40 From the sixteen thousand human souls, there fell to the portion of the Lord thirty-two souls.
They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
41 And Moses delivered the number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as had been commanded of him,
Moses/I gave to Eleazar all [the animals] that had been given to Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded.
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.
Moses/I separated what those who had fought in the battle received from what the other people received. The people had taken 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins,
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,
44 and from the thirty-six thousand oxen,
45 and from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46 and from the sixteen thousand persons,
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.
From what the people received, Moses/I took one from every 50 items and dedicated them to Yahweh. That included animals and people. As Yahweh commanded, he/I gave them all to the descendants of Levi who took care of the Sacred Tent.
48 And when the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions had approached Moses, they said:
Then the army officers and those who commanded 1,000 men and those who commanded 100 men came to Moses/me.
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.
They said, “We, who are your servants, have counted the soldiers whom we command, and [we found that] none of them (is missing/has been killed).
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.”
So [to thank Yahweh for that], we have brought to him a gift of the gold items that we found [after the battle]: Gold arm bands and bracelets and rings and earrings and necklaces. This will enable us to be forgiven for our sins.”
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in its various kinds,
So Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
52 weighing sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels, from the tribunes and the centurions.
The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
53 For whatever each one had taken away in the spoils was his own.
Each soldier had taken these things 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.
Eleazar and Moses/I accepted these gold items from these commanders and put them in the Sacred Tent to remind the Israeli people about how Yahweh [had helped them defeat the Midian people-group].
