Numbers 31:1-24

New King James Version

Vengeance on the Midianites

31 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^2 (A)“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall ^(B)be gathered to your people.”

³ So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on ^(C)Midian. ⁴ A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”

⁵ So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and ^(D)the signal trumpets in his hand. ⁷ And they warred against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and ^(E)they killed all the ^(F)males. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—^(G)Evi, Rekem, ^(H)Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. ^(I)Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.

⁹ And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰ They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts. ¹¹ And ^(J)they took all the spoil and all the booty—of man and beast.

Return from the War

¹² Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. ¹³ And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.

¹⁵ And Moses said to them: “Have you kept ^(K)all the women alive? ¹⁶ Look, ^(L)these women caused the children of Israel, through the ^(M)counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and ^(N)there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now therefore, ^(O)kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. ¹⁸ But keep alive ^(P)for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately. ¹⁹ And as for you, ^(Q)remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and ^(R)whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. ²⁰ Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”

²¹ Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the ^[a]ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses: ²² Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified ^(S)with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water. ^24 (T)And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”