Numbers 31:1-13

New Living Translation

Conquest of the Midianites

31 Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.”

³So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian. ⁴From each tribe of Israel, send 1,000 men into battle.” ⁵So they chose 1,000 men from each tribe of Israel, a total of 12,000 men armed for battle. ⁶Then Moses sent them out, 1,000 men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge. ⁷They attacked Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. ⁸All five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. ¹⁰They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. ¹¹After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, ¹²they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. ¹³Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.

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Numbers 31:1-13

New International Version

Vengeance on the Midianites

31 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Take vengeance on the Midianites^(A) for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.^(B)”

³So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance^(C) on them. ⁴Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” ⁵So twelve thousand men armed for battle,^(D) a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. ⁶Moses sent them into battle,^(E) a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas^(F) son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary^(G) and the trumpets^(H) for signaling.

⁷They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses,^(I) and killed every man.^(J) ⁸Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba^(K)—the five kings of Midian.^(L) They also killed Balaam son of Beor^(M) with the sword.^(N) ⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women^(O) and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.^(P) ¹⁰They burned^(Q) all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.^(R) ¹¹They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,^(S) ¹²and brought the captives, spoils^(T) and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly^(U) at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.^(V)