1 ¶ And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

The Lord said to Moses,

2 A venge the sons of Israel upon the Midianites; afterward thou shalt be gathered unto thy peoples.

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

3 A nd Moses spoke unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war and let them go against the Midianites and carry out the vengeance of the LORD in 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 A thousand out of every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel shall ye send to the war.

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

5 S o there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand 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; he sent a thousand of every tribe; and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, went to the war with the holy instruments, with the trumpets to blow 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 ¶ And they fought against the Midianites as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

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

8 A nd they also slew the kings of Midian among the rest of those that were slain: namely, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, five kings of Midian; they also slew Balaam, the son of Beor, 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 sons of Israel took all the women of Midian captives and their little ones and took the spoil of all their beasts and all their flocks and all their goods.

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 A nd they burnt all their cities in which they dwelt and all their palaces with fire.

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 men and of beasts.

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

12 A nd they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil unto Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and unto the congregation of the sons of Israel, unto the camp in the plains of Moab, which was by Jordan of 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 ¶ And Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and all the princes of the congregation went forth 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 A nd Moses was angry with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds who returned from the battle.

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 unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

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

16 B ehold, these caused the sons of Israel through the counsel of Balaam to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor for which there was a plague 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 that has known a man by lying with him.

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

18 B ut all the female children that have not known a man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.

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

19 A nd ye must abide outside the camp seven days; and whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any dead body ye shall remove the sin from them on the third and on the seventh day, both of yourselves and of your captives.

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 L ikewise remove all sin from all your clothing and all that is made of skins and all work of goats’ hair and every vessel made 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 unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD 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 c ertainly the gold and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

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

23 e very thing that may endure the fire, ye shall cause to pass through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless, ye shall remove the sin with the water of separation; and all that does not endure the fire ye shall cause to go through the 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 Y e shall also wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterwards ye 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 ¶ And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

The Lord said to Moses,

26 T ake the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou and Eleazar, the priest, and the heads of the fathers 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 a nd divide the prey into two parts between those that took the part in the war, 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 offer a tribute unto the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the sheep.

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 it from their half and give Eleazar, the priest, the offering of the LORD.

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

30 A nd of the half belonging to the sons of Israel, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of animals and give them unto the Levites, who keep the 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 A nd the prey, that is the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep

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

33 a nd seventy-two thousand oxen

72, 000 cattle,

34 a nd sixty-one thousand asses

61, 000 donkeys,

35 a nd thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known a man by lying with him.

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

36 A nd the half which was the portion of those that went out to war was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep.

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

37 A nd the tribute for the LORD, of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.

The Lord’s tax was 675 sheep.

38 A nd the oxen were thirty-six thousand, of which the tribute for the LORD was seventy-two.

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

39 A nd the asses were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the tribute for the LORD was sixty-one.

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

40 A nd the persons were sixteen thousand, of which the tribute for the LORD was thirty-two 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 heave offering, unto Eleazar, the priest, as the LORD had 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 of the half pertaining to the sons of Israel, which Moses divided from the men that had gone to war,

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

43 ( now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep

The people’s half was 337, 500 sheep,

44 a nd thirty-six thousand oxen

36, 000 cattle,

45 a nd thirty thousand five hundred asses

30, 500 donkeys,

46 a nd sixteen thousand persons)

and 16, 000 persons.

47 o f the half, therefore of the sons of Israel, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, who kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had 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 ¶ And the officers who were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses,

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

49 a nd they said unto Moses, Thy slaves have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our charge 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 therefore brought an offering for the LORD, each man of what he has found, of vessels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to reconcile our souls 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 A nd Moses and Eleazar, the priest, took the gold from them, all wrought vessels.

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 up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty 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 ( For the men of war had taken spoil, 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, took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tabernacle of the testimony, for a memorial of the sons of Israel 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.