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Numbers 31
1599 Geneva Bible
Numbers 31
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.
25 ¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of persons and of cattle, thou and Eleazar the Priest, and the chief fathers of the Congregation.
27 And divide the prey [l]between the soldiers that went to the war, and all the Congregation.
28 And thou shalt take a tribute unto the Lord of the [m]men of war, which went out to battle: one person of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep.
29 Ye shall take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the Priest, as an heave offering of the Lord.
30 But of the half of the children of Israel thou shalt take [n]one, taken out of fifty, both of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the sheep, even of all the cattle, and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, which have the charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord.
31 And Moses and Eleazar the Priest did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
32 And the booty, to wit, the rest of the prey which the men of war had spoiled, was six hundred seventy and five thousand sheep,
33 And seventy and two thousand beeves,
34 And threescore and one thousand asses,
35 And two and thirty thousand persons in all, of women that had [o]lain by no man.
36 And the half, to wit, the part of them that went out to war, touching the number of sheep, was three hundred seven and thirty thousand, and five hundred.
37 And the [p]Lord’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy and five.
38 And the beeves were six and thirty thousand, whereof the Lord’s tribute was seventy and two.
39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred, whereof the Lord’s tribute was threescore and one:
40 And [q]of persons sixteen thousand, whereof the Lord’s tribute was two and thirty persons.
41 And Moses gave the tribute of the Lord’s offering unto Eleazar the Priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42 And of the [r]half of the children of Israel, which Moses divided from the men of war,
43 (For the half that pertained unto the congregation, was three hundred thirty and seven thousand sheep and five hundred,
44 And six and thirty thousand beeves,
45 And thirty thousand asses, and five hundred,
46 And sixteen thousand persons.)
47 Moses, I say, took of the half that pertained unto the [s]children of Israel, one taken out of fifty, both of the persons, and of the cattle, and gave them unto the Levites, which have the charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
48 ¶ Then the captains which were over thousands of the host, the captains over the thousands, and the captains over the hundreds came unto Moses:
49 And said to Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under [t]our authority, and there lacketh not one man of us.
50 [u]We have therefore brought a present unto the Lord, what every man found of Jewels of gold, bracelets, and chains, rings, earrings, and ornaments of the legs, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord.
51 And Moses and Eleazar the Priest took the gold of them, and all wrought jewels,
52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord (of the captains over thousands and hundreds) was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
53 (For the men of war had spoiled, every man for [v]himself.)
54 And Moses and Eleazar the Priest took the gold of the captains over the thousands, and over the hundreds, and brought it into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, for a [w]memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.
Footnotes
- 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.
- Numbers 31:27 The prey is first divided equally among all.
- Numbers 31:28 Of the prey that falleth to the soldiers.
- Numbers 31:30 The Israelites which had not been at war, of every fiftieth paid one to the Lord: and the soldiers one of every five hundredth.
- Numbers 31:35 Hebrew, not known the bed of man.
- Numbers 31:37 This is the portion that the soldiers gave to the Lord.
- Numbers 31:40 Meaning, of the maids, or virgins which had not companied with man.
- Numbers 31:42 Of that part which was given unto them in dividing the spoil.
- Numbers 31:47 Which had not been at war.
- Numbers 31:49 Hebrew, under our hands.
- Numbers 31:50 The captains by the free offering acknowledge the great benefit of God in preserving his people.
- Numbers 31:53 And gave no portion to their captains.
- Numbers 31:54 That the Lord might remember the children of Israel.
Numbers 31
New International Version
Numbers 31
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)”
3 So 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. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle,(D) a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses 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.
7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses,(I) and killed every man.(J) 8 Among 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) 9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women(O) and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.(P) 10 They burned(Q) all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.(R) 11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,(S) 12 and 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)
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(W)—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(X) and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident,(Y) so that a plague(Z) struck the Lord’s people. 17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,(AA) 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(AB) must stay outside the camp seven days.(AC) On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves(AD) and your captives. 20 Purify every garment(AE) as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.(AF)”
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle,(AG) “This is what is required by the law that the Lord gave Moses: 22 Gold, silver, bronze, iron,(AH) tin, lead 23 and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire,(AI) and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing.(AJ) And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean.(AK) Then you may come into the camp.(AL)”
Dividing the Spoils
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads(AM) of the community are to count all the people(AN) and animals that were captured.(AO) 27 Divide(AP) 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(AQ) 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.(AR)” 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 The plunder remaining from the spoils(AS) 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:
337,500 sheep, 37 of which the tribute for the Lord(AT) was 675;
38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;
39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;
40 16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32.
41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part,(AU) as the Lord commanded Moses.(AV)
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.
48 Then the officers(AW) who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses 49 and said to him, “Your servants have counted(AX) the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.(AY) 50 So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves(AZ) before the Lord.”
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. 52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.[a] 53 Each soldier had taken plunder(BA) for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting(BB) as a memorial(BC) for the Israelites before the Lord.
Footnotes
- Numbers 31:52 That is, about 420 pounds or about 190 kilograms
Numbers 31
King James Version
Numbers 31
King James Version
31 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.
3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian.
4 Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.
5 So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.
7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.
12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.
14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19 And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
20 And purify all your raiment, 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 of the law which the Lord commanded Moses;
22 Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.
24 And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.
25 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:
27 And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:
28 And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:
29 Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the Lord.
30 And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,
33 And threescore and twelve thousand beeves,
34 And threescore and one thousand asses,
35 And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him.
36 And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:
37 And the Lord'S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
38 And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the Lord'S tribute was threescore and twelve.
39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the Lord'S tribute was threescore and one.
40 And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the Lord'S tribute was thirty and two persons.
41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord'S heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided from the men that warred,
43 (Now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,
44 And thirty and six thousand beeves,
45 And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,
46 And sixteen thousand persons;)
47 Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses.
48 And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:
49 And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.
50 We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord.
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
52 And 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.
53 (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)
54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) 
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