She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Avith.

When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Moses Flees to Midian

One day after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.

When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian and sat down by a well.

The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Moses at the Burning Bush

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.

The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who were seeking your life are dead.”

Jethro’s Advice

Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’s father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’s father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you’; come with us, and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.”

And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand, and they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.

Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

The name of the slain Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, head of an ancestral house belonging to the Simeonites.

The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur, who was the head of a clan, an ancestral house in Midian.

“Harass the Midianites, and defeat them,

for they have harassed you by the trickery with which they deceived you in the affair of Peor, and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister; she was killed on the day of the plague that resulted from Peor.”

War against Midian

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of your number for the war, so that they may go against Midian, to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.

They did battle against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male.

They killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian, in addition to others who were slain by them, and they also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

The Israelites took the women of Midian and their little ones captive, and they plundered all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.