Numbers 31
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and said,
The Lord told Moses,
2 “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.”
“Punish the Midianites because of what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your forefathers in death.”
3 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].
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.
4 Select 1,000 men from each tribe to fight.”
You are to contribute one thousand men from each Israelite tribe.”
5 So 12,000 men prepared for fighting in the battle, 1,000 from each tribe.
So one thousand men were chosen from each Israelite tribe, making twelve thousand troops ready for battle.
6 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].
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.
7 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.
They attacked the Midianites, as the Lord had told Moses to do, and they killed all the men.
8 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.
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.
9 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.
The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took as plunder all their herds, flocks, and possessions.
10 Then they burned down all the houses in the towns and villages where the people of the Midian people-group lived,
They set fire to all the Midianite towns and camps where they had lived,
11 but they took home with them all the women and children and animals and possessions.
and carried away all the plunder and loot, including people and animals.
12 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.
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.
13 Eleazar and all the leaders of the people and Moses/I went outside the camp to greet/meet with them.
Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the Israelite leaders went out of the camp to meet them.
14 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.
Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who returned from the battle.
15 He/I asked them, “Why did you allow the women to live [RHQ]?
“Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.
16 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.
“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!
17 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.
So go and kill all the boys and every woman who has had slept with a man.
18 Spare only the girls who are virgins [EUP]. You can keep them to be your [wives or your slaves].
Let all the girls who are virgins live. They are yours.
19 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.
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.
20 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.”
Also purify all your clothing garment and anything made of leather, goat's hair, or wood.”
21 Then Eleazar said to the soldiers who had returned from the battle, “This is what Yahweh has instructed Moses:
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:
22 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].
All that's made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—
23 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.
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.
24 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.”
Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean. Then you can enter the camp.”
25 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
The Lord told Moses,
26 “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].
“You, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite family leaders are to take a record of the people and animals that were captured.
27 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.
Then divide them between the troops who went into battle and the rest of the Israelites.
28 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.
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.
29 Take these things to Eleazar to (be my share/belong to me).
Take this from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
30 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.”
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.”
31 So Eleazar and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded.
Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had ordered Moses.
32 There were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins that they had captured from the Midian people-group.
This was the list of plunder remaining that had been looted by the troops: 675,000 sheep,
72,000 cattle,
61,000 donkeys,
and 32,000 virgins.
36 The men who fought in the battle took 337,000 sheep [from the battle],
This was the half share for those who had gone to fight: 337,500 sheep,
37 and they gave 675 of them to Yahweh.
with a contribution for the Lord of 675,
38 They took 36,000 cattle and gave 72 of them to Yahweh.
36,000 cattle, with a Lord's contribution of 72,
39 They took 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to Yahweh.
30,500 donkeys, with a Lord's contribution of 61,
40 They took 16,000 virgins, and they dedicated 32 of them to Yahweh.
and 16,000 people, with a Lord's contribution of 32.
41 Moses/I gave to Eleazar all [the animals] that had been given to Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded.
Moses gave the contribution to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord as the Lord had ordered Moses.
42 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,
The Israelites' half share left after Moses had given the half share to the troops who had gone to fight,
consisted of: 337,500 sheep,
36,000 cattle,
30,500 donkeys,
and 16,000 people.
47 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.
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.
48 Then the army officers and those who commanded 1,000 men and those who commanded 100 men came to Moses/me.
The army officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came to Moses
49 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).
and told him, “We, your servants, have checked the troops we command and not a single man is missing.
50 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.”
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.”
51 So Eleazar and Moses/I accepted the gold items that they brought.
Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them all the objects made out of gold.
52 The total of it weighed about (420 pounds/190 kg.).
The gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds gave as an offering to the Lord weighed in total 16,750 shekels.
53 Each soldier had taken these things for himself.
(The men who had fought in the battle had each taken plunder for himself.)
54 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].
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.
