¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ Moses was angry with the officers of the army^(A)—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.

¹⁵ “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. ¹⁶ “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice^(B) and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident,^(C) so that a plague^(D) struck the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,^{(E) 18} but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

¹⁹ “Anyone who has killed someone or touched someone who was killed^(F) must stay outside the camp seven days.^(G) On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves^(H) and your captives. ²⁰ Purify every garment^(I) as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.^(J)”

²¹ Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle,^(K) “This is what is required by the law that the Lord gave Moses: ²² Gold, silver, bronze, iron,^(L) tin, lead ²³ and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire,^(M) and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing.^(N) And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water. ²⁴ On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean.^(O) Then you may come into the camp.^(P)”

Dividing the Spoils

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads^(Q) of the community are to count all the people^(R) and animals that were captured.^{(S) 27} Divide^(T) the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. ²⁸ From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord^(U) one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. ²⁹ Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part. ³⁰ From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.^(V)” ³¹ So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² The plunder remaining from the spoils^(W) that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, ³³ 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ 61,000 donkeys ³⁵ and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

³⁶ The half share of those who fought in the battle was:

⁴¹ Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part,^(Y) as the Lord commanded Moses.^(Z)

⁴² The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men— ⁴³ the community’s half—was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys ⁴⁶ and 16,000 people. ⁴⁷ From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child,^(A) he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.^(B)

Jesus Presented in the Temple

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses,^(C) Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”^[a]),^{(D) 24} and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”^[b](E)

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.^(F) He was waiting for the consolation of Israel,^(G) and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,^{(H) 28} Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother:^(M) “This child is destined to cause the falling^(N) and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶ There was also a prophet,^(O) Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.^[d](P) She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.^{(Q) 38} Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.^(R)