Numbers 31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
War against Midian
31 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”(A) 3 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. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe were conscripted, twelve thousand armed for battle. 6 Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest,[a] with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his hand.(B) 7 They did battle against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 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.(C) 9 The Israelites took the women of Midian and their little ones captive, and they plundered all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their towns where they had settled, and all their encampments, they burned, 11 but they took all the spoil and all the plunder, both people and animals.(D) 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the Israelites, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Return from the War
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses became angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? 16 These women here, on Balaam’s advice, made the Israelites act treacherously against the Lord in the affair of Peor, so that the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.(E) 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by sleeping with him.(F) 18 But all the young girls who have not known a man by sleeping with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19 Camp outside the camp seven days, whoever of you has killed any person or touched a corpse; purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”
21 Eleazar the priest said to the troops who had gone to battle, “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: 22 gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead— 23 everything that can withstand fire, you shall pass through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for purification, and whatever cannot withstand fire, you shall pass through the water.(G) 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; afterward you may come into the camp.”(H)
Disposition of Captives and Plunder
25 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the ancestral houses of the congregation make an inventory of the plunder captured, both human and animal. 27 Divide the plunder into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 From the share of the warriors who went out to battle, set aside as tribute for the Lord one item out of every five hundred, whether persons, oxen, donkeys, or sheep.(I) 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord. 30 But from the Israelites’ half you shall take one out of every fifty, whether persons, oxen, donkeys, or sheep—all the animals—and give them to the Levites, who perform the duties of the tabernacle of the Lord.”(J)
31 Then Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the troops had taken totaled six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,(K) 33 seventy-two thousand oxen, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known a man by sleeping with him.
36 The half-share, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 37 and the Lord’s tribute of sheep was six hundred seventy-five.(L) 38 The oxen were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was seventy-two. 39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord’s tribute was sixty-one. 40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 Moses gave the tribute, the offering for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.(M)
42 As for the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from that of the troops, 43 the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand oxen, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons. 47 From the Israelites’ half Moses took one of every fifty, both of persons and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who perform the duties of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.(N)
48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, approached Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the warriors who are under our command, and not one of us is missing. 50 And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what each of us found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”(O) 51 Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all in the form of crafted articles. 52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels. 53 (The troops had all taken plunder for themselves.)(P) 54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.(Q)
Footnotes
- 31.6 Gk: Heb adds to the war
Numbers 31
International Standard Version
War against Midian
31 Later, the Lord told Moses, 2 “Be sure to exact vengeance on behalf of the Israelis from the Midianites, after which you’ll be taken home[a] to your people.”
3 So Moses instructed the people, “Muster your men of war to attack the Midianites and deliver the Lord’s vengeance against Midian. 4 Send 1,000 men to war from every tribe throughout all of Israel.” 5 So 1,000 men from every tribe—12,000 from the thousands of Israel—were mustered and equipped for war.
6 Moses sent 1,000 men from every tribe to fight against them, along with Eleazar’s son Phinehas, in whose hands were the articles of the sanctuary and trumpets to sound battle alarms. 7 They fought against the Midianites[b] just as the Lord had commanded Moses, killing every man. 8 They executed the five kings of Midian, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also executed Beor’s son Balaam with a sword. 9 After this, the Israelis took captive the Midianite women and children[c] and confiscated as spoils of war all their cattle, livestock, and their goods. 10 They burned every town where they had lived and incinerated all of their encampments. 11 They took all the booty and plunder, including both humans and animals. 12 Then they brought the captives, booty, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the entire community of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River in Jericho. 13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.
Commands Concerning War Captives
14 But Moses became livid with anger at the officers of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds who had returned from servicing in the battle. 15 “Did you keep all the women alive?” Moses asked them. 16 “Look! These women were the same ones who were counseled by Balaam to cause the Israelis to commit a grievous sin against the Lord at Peor. As a result, that plague infected the Lord’s community. 17 You are to kill every male child[d] and every woman who has had sexual relations with a man.[e] 18 You are to allow the young women who haven’t yet had sexual relations with a man[f] to live for yourselves.”
Purification after the Battle
19 “Now you are to stay outside the camp for seven days, after which any of you who has killed a person[g] or touched someone who was killed may purify yourselves on the third day. You and your captives will be pure on the seventh day. 20 Furthermore, you are to purify every garment—that is, everything made of leather, goat’s hair, or containing wood.”
21 Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone to battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded Moses 22 concerning anything containing gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, lead, 23 or anything else that can survive a refiner’s fire: You are to pass it through fire, after which it will be clean. Then it is to be purified with the water of impurity. Everything that cannot survive a refiner’s fire is to be washed in water. 24 Wash your clothes on the seventh day, after which you will be clean. Then you may enter the camp.”
Offerings from War Booty
25 Then the Lord told Moses, 26 “Take an inventory of the booty that was taken in the battle,[h] both of humans and of animals. Then you, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers of the community 27 are to divide the booty between the warriors who went to war and the rest of the community.
28 “After this, you are to exact a tribute for the Lord from the soldiers who went to war, consisting of the tribute earned by one person out of every 500, whether from people, cattle, donkeys, or flocks. 29 You are to take half their share and give it to Eleazar the priest as a raised offering to the Lord. 30 Then take half the share of the Israelis, one drawn out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, flocks, and from every animal, then give to the descendants of Levi who maintain the service of the Lord’s tent.”
31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did what the Lord had commanded Moses. 32 The goods confiscated in excess of the war implements[i] that the warriors had gathered included 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, and 35 32,000 women who had not had sexual relations with a man.
God’s Portion of the War Booty
36 Now half of the share of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 so the Lord’s tribute from the sheep totaled 675. 38 The cattle numbered 36,000, so the Lord’s tribute totaled 72. 39 The donkeys numbered 30,500, so the Lord’s tribute totaled 61. 40 The people[j] numbered 16,000, so the Lord’s tribute totaled 32 people. 41 Then Moses gave the tribute, a raised offering to the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 42 From half of the share of the Israelis that Moses had set aside from the soldiers, 43 there were 337,500 sheep for the community, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 people.
47 Moses took a portion drawn from every 50 Israelis, including from both human and animals, and gave them to the descendants of Levi who maintained the Lord’s tent, just as the Lord had commanded him.[k] 48 Then the officers in charge of thousands of soldiers, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds approached Moses 49 and told him,[l] “Your servants took a count of the soldiers who were under our authority. We didn’t miss a single man. 50 We’ve brought offerings to the Lord from whatever each man found—jewel-encrusted gold, anklets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves[m] in the Lord’s presence.”
51 Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them and everything that was fashioned into jewels. 52 The gold for the raised offering that they brought to the Lord totaled 16,750 shekels, 53 because every soldier had confiscated war booty for his own use. 54 Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the captains of thousands and hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, to serve as a memorial to the Israelis in the Lord’s presence.
Footnotes
- Numbers 31:2 Lit. be gathered
- Numbers 31:7 Lit. Midian
- Numbers 31:9 Or little ones
- Numbers 31:17 Lit. every male among the little ones
- Numbers 31:17 Lit. every woman who has known a man by lying with him
- Numbers 31:18 Lit. little ones among the women, who had not known a man by lying with him
- Numbers 31:19 Lit. soul
- Numbers 31:26 The Heb. lacks in the battle
- Numbers 31:32 Lit. booty
- Numbers 31:40 MT as soul of man
- Numbers 31:47 Lit. Moses
- Numbers 31:49 Lit. Moses
- Numbers 31:50 Or our soul
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