1 T he Lord said to Moses,

The Lord said to Moses,

2 A venge the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.

“Punish the Midianites for the people of Israel. After that you will be buried with your people.”

3 A nd Moses said to the people, Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian and execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.

Then Moses said to the people, “Take men from among you and make them ready for war against Midian. They will punish Midian for the Lord.

4 F rom each of the tribes of Israel you shall send 1, 000 to the war.

Send to the war 1, 000 men from each of all the family groups of Israel.”

5 S o there were provided out of the thousands of Israel 1, 000 from each tribe, 12, 000 armed for war.

So 1, 000 men came from each of the family groups of the thousands of Israel. There were 12, 000 ready for war.

6 A nd Moses sent them to the war, 1, 000 from each tribe, together with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets to blow the alarm in his hand.

Moses sent them, 1, 000 from each family group, to the war. Phinehas the son of Eleazar the religious leader went to the war with them. In his hand were the holy objects and the horns for blowing the sound of coming danger.

7 T hey fought with Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and slew every male,

So the men made war against Midian, just as the Lord had told Moses, and they killed every male.

8 I ncluding the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba; also Balaam son of Beor they slew with the sword.

They killed the five kings of Midian with the sword also, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

9 A nd the Israelites took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and all their cattle, their flocks, and their goods as booty.

The people of Israel took the women of Midian and their little ones, and all their cattle, all their flocks, and all the good things that belonged to them.

10 T hey burned all the cities in which they dwelt, and all their encampments.

Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their tents.

11 A nd they took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast.

They took all that was left of both man and animal.

12 T hen they brought the captives, the prey, and the spoil to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the Israelites at the camp on the plains of Moab by Jordan at Jericho.

And they brought the people they had taken and the animals and whatever belonged to them to Moses, and to Eleazar the religious leader, and to the people of Israel. Their tents were on the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.

13 M oses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes or leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

Moses and Eleazar the religious leader and all the leaders of the people went out from the tents to meet them.

14 B ut Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, who served in the war.

Moses was angry with the leaders of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds, who had fought in the war.

15 A nd Moses said to them, Have you let all the women live?

He said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live?

16 B ehold, these caused the Israelites by the counsel of Balaam to trespass and act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and so a plague came among the congregation of the Lord.

See, these women listened to Balaam and caused the people of Israel to sin against the Lord in what happened at Peor. So the very bad disease came to the people of the Lord.

17 N ow therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who is not a virgin.

Now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has had a man.

18 B ut all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.

But keep alive for yourselves all the girls who have not had a man.

19 E ncamp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

Stay away from the tents for seven days. If you have killed any person or have touched any dead body, you must make yourself and those you have taken clean, on the third day and on the seventh day.

20 Y ou shall purify every garment, all that is made of skins, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.

You must clean every piece of clothing, everything made of leather, everything made of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”

21 A nd Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses:

Then Eleazar the religious leader said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the Law which the Lord has told Moses.

22 O nly the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

Take the gold, silver, brass, iron, tin and lead,

23 E verything that can stand fire, you shall make go through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of impurity; and all that cannot stand fire you shall pass through water.

everything that can last through fire. Pass it through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must be made pure with the water for cleaning. Whatever cannot last through fire you must pass through the water.

24 A nd you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and you shall be clean; then you shall come into the camp.

You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be clean. Then you may come among the tents.”

25 A nd the Lord said to Moses,

The Lord said to Moses,

26 T ake the count of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation.

“You and Eleazar the religious leader and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people should number all that was taken from the battle, both of man and animal.

27 D ivide the booty into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.

Divide what was taken between the men of war who went to battle and all the people.

28 A nd levy a tribute to the Lord from the warriors who went to battle, one out of every 500 of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, and the flocks.

Then take a tax for the Lord from the men of war who went out to battle. Take one out of 500 of the persons and the cattle and the donkeys and the sheep.

29 T ake from the warriors’ half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.

Take this from their half and give it to Eleazar the religious leader, as a gift to the Lord.

30 A nd from the Israelites’ half you shall take one out of every fifty of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, the flocks, and of all livestock, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

From the half belonging to the people of Israel, take one out of every fifty of the persons and cattle and donkeys and sheep and all the animals. Give them to the Levites who take care of the meeting tent of the Lord.”

31 A nd Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Moses and Eleazar the religious leader did just as the Lord had told Moses.

32 T he prey, besides the booty which the men of war took, was 675, 000 sheep,

What was left from that which the men of war had taken was 675, 000 sheep,

33 A nd 72, 000 cattle,

72, 000 cattle,

34 A nd 61, 000 donkeys,

61, 000 donkeys,

35 A nd 32, 000 persons in all, of the women who were virgins.

and 32, 000 persons in all, of women who had never had a man.

36 A nd the half share, the portion of those who went to war, was: 337, 500 sheep,

The half taken by those who went out to war was 337, 500 sheep.

37 A nd the Lord’s tribute of the sheep was 675;

The Lord’s tax was 675 sheep.

38 T he cattle were 36, 000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 72;

There were 36, 000 cattle, from which the Lord’s tax was seventy-two.

39 T he donkeys were 30, 500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61;

There were 30, 500 donkeys, from which the Lord’s tax was sixty-one.

40 T he persons were 16, 000, of whom the Lord’s tribute was 32 persons.

And there were 16, 000 persons, from whom the Lord’s tax was thirty-two.

41 A nd Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord’s offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Moses gave the tax, which was the Lord’s gift, to Eleazar the religious leader, just as the Lord had told Moses.

42 A nd the Israelites’ half Moses separated from that of the warriors’—

Moses divided the people of Israel’s half from the men who had gone to war.

43 N ow the congregation’s half was 337, 500 sheep,

The people’s half was 337, 500 sheep,

44 A nd 36, 000 cattle,

36, 000 cattle,

45 A nd 30, 500 donkeys,

30, 500 donkeys,

46 A nd 16, 000 persons—

and 16, 000 persons.

47 E ven of the Israelites’ half, Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites, who had charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Moses took one out of every fifty of both man and animal from the people of Israel’s half. He gave them to the Levites, who took care of the meeting tent of the Lord, just as the Lord had told Moses.

48 A nd the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, came to Moses.

Then the leaders of the thousands of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds, came to Moses.

49 T hey told, Your servants have counted the warriors under our command, and not one man of us is missing.

They said to him, “Your servants have numbered the men of war whom we lead. Not one man is missing from us.

50 W e have brought as the Lord’s offering what each man obtained—articles of gold, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, neck ornaments—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.

We have brought as a gift to the Lord what each man found, objects of gold, things to be worn on the arms and fingers and ears and necks. They are to pay for our sins before the Lord.”

51 M oses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all the wrought articles.

Moses and Eleazar the religious leader took the gold from them, all the objects made of beaten gold.

52 A nd all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds was 16, 750 shekels.

All the gold of the gift they gave to the Lord from the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds was worth 16, 750 gold pieces.

53 F or the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.

For the men of war had taken things from the battle, every man for himself.

54 A nd Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.

So Moses and Eleazar the religious leader took the gold from the heads of thousands and of hundreds. They brought it to the meeting tent so that the people of Israel would be remembered before the Lord.