Numbers 31:1-24
1599 Geneva Bible
31 8 Five Kings of Midian and Balaam are slain. 18 Only the maids are reserved alive. 27 The prey is equally divided. 50 A present given of Israel.
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 (A)Revenge the children of Israel of the Midianites, and afterward shalt thou be (B)gathered unto thy people.
3 And Moses spake to the people, saying, Harness some of you unto war, and let them go against Midian, to execute the vengeance of the Lord [a]against Midian.
4 A thousand of every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel shall ye send to the war.
5 So there were taken out of the thousands of Israel, twelve thousand prepared unto war, of every tribe a thousand.
6 And Moses sent them to the war, even a thousand of every tribe, and sent them with [b]Phinehas the son of Eleazar the Priest to the war: and the holy instruments, that is, the trumpets to blow were in his hand.
7 And they warred against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and slew all the males.
8 They slew also the kings of Midian among them that were slain: (C)Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian, and they slew [c]Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
9 But the children of Israel took the women of Midian prisoners, and their children, and spoiled all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
10 And they burnt all their cities, wherein they dwelt, and all their [d]villages with fire.
11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey both of men and beasts.
12 And they brought the [e]captives and that which they had taken, and the spoil unto Moses and to Eleazar the Priest, and unto the Congregation of the children of Israel, into the camp in the plain of Moab, which was by Jordan toward Jericho.
13 ¶ Then Moses and Eleazar the Priest, and all the princes of the Congregation went out of the camp to meet them.
14 And Moses was angry with the captains of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the war and battle.
15 And Moses said unto them, What? have ye saved all the [f]women?
16 Behold, (D)these caused the children of Israel through the (E)counsel of Balaam to commit a trespass against the Lord, [g]as concerning Peor, and there came a plague among the Congregation of the Lord.
17 Now therefore, (F)slay all the males among the [h]children, and kill all the women that have known man by carnal copulation.
18 But all the women-children that have not known carnal copulation, keep alive for yourselves.
19 And ye shall remain without the host seven days, all that have killed any person, (G)and all that have touched any dead, and purify both yourselves and your prisoners the third day and the seventh.
20 Also ye shall purify every garment and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.
21 ¶ And Eleazar the Priest said unto the men of war, which went to the battle, This is the ordinance [i]of the law which the Lord (H)commanded Moses.
22 As for gold, and silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead:
23 Even all that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: yet, it shall be [j]purified with (I)the water of purification: and all that suffereth not the fire, ye shall cause to pass by the [k]water.
24 Ye shall wash also your clothes the seventh day, and ye shall be clean: and afterward ye shall come into the host.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 31:3 As he had commanded, Num. 25:17, declaring also that the injury done against his people is done against him.
- Numbers 31:6 For his great zeal that he bare to the Lord, Num. 25:13.
- Numbers 31:8 The false prophet who gave counsel how to cause the Israelites to offend their God.
- Numbers 31:10 Or, palaces and gorgeous buildings.
- Numbers 31:12 As the women and little children.
- Numbers 31:15 As though he said, ye ought to have spared none.
- Numbers 31:16 For worshipping of Peor.
- Numbers 31:17 That is, all the men-children.
- Numbers 31:21 Or, contained in the law.
- Numbers 31:23 The third day and before it be molten.
- Numbers 31:23 It shall be washed.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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