Numbers 30-32

New International Reader's Version

Special Promises

30 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of Israel. He said, “Here is what the Lord commands. ² Suppose a man makes a special promise to the Lord. Or suppose he gives his word to do something. Then he must keep his promise. He must do everything he said he would do.

³ “Suppose a young woman is still living in her father’s house. She makes a special promise to the Lord. Or she gives her word to do something. ⁴ Suppose her father hears about her promise. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. ⁵ But suppose her father doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised or agreed to do. The Lord will set her free. He’ll do it because her father hasn’t allowed her to keep her promises.

⁶ “Suppose she gets married after she makes a special promise. Or she gets married after agreeing to do something without thinking it through. ⁷ Suppose her husband hears about what she did. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. ⁸ But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do without thinking it through. The Lord will set her free.

⁹ “Suppose a widow makes a special promise. Or suppose she gives her word to do something. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. The same rules apply to a woman who has been divorced.

¹⁰ “Suppose a woman living with her husband makes a special promise. Or she gives her word to do something. ¹¹ Suppose her husband hears about what she did. He doesn’t say anything to her about it. And he doesn’t try to stop her from keeping her promises. Then she must keep all of them. She must do what she agreed to do. ¹² But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do. Her husband has kept her from doing what she said she would do. The Lord will set her free. ¹³ Her husband can let her keep any special promise she makes. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. Suppose she gives her word not to eat anything. Then her husband can let her keep her promise. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. ¹⁴ But suppose day after day her husband doesn’t say anything to her about what she did. Then he lets her keep all her promises. He lets her do everything she agreed to do. That’s because he didn’t say anything to her when he heard about what she had done. ¹⁵ But suppose some time after he hears about her promises he doesn’t let her keep them. Then she will be guilty. But he will bear the consequences for her guilt.”

¹⁶ These are the rules the Lord gave Moses about a man and his wife. And these are the rules the Lord gave about a father and his young daughter still living at home.

The Lord Punishes the Midianites

31 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “Pay the Midianites back for what they did to the Israelites. After that, you will join the members of your family who have already died.”

³ So Moses said to the people, “Prepare some of your men for battle. They must go to war against Midian. They will carry out the Lord’s plan to punish Midian. ⁴ Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel into battle.” ⁵ So Moses prepared 12,000 men for battle. There were 1,000 from each tribe. They came from the families of Israel. ⁶ Moses sent them into battle. He sent 1,000 from each tribe. Phinehas the priest went along with them. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar. Phinehas took some things from the sacred tent with him. He also took the trumpets. The trumpet blasts would tell the people what to do and when to do it.

⁷ They fought against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. They killed every man. ⁸ Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba were among the men they killed. Those men were the five kings of Midian. The Israelites also killed Balaam with their swords. Balaam was the son of Beor. ⁹ The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children. They took for themselves all the herds, flocks and goods. ¹⁰ They burned down all the towns where the Midianites lived. They also burned all their camps. ¹¹ They carried off everything they had taken. That included the people and the animals. ¹² They brought back to Israel’s camp the prisoners and everything else they had taken. They took them to Moses and to Eleazar the priest. They brought them to the whole community. Israel was camped on the plains of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho.

¹³ Moses and Eleazar the priest went to meet them outside the camp. So did all the leaders of the community. ¹⁴ Moses was angry with the officers of the army who had returned from the battle. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds.

¹⁵ “Have you let all the women remain alive?” Moses asked them. ¹⁶ “The women followed Balaam’s advice. They caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord. The people worshiped the god named Baal that was worshiped at Peor. So a plague struck them. ¹⁷ Kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man. ¹⁸ But save for yourselves every woman who has never slept with a man.

¹⁹ “Anyone who has killed a person must stay outside the camp for seven days. And anyone who has touched a person who was killed must do the same thing. On the third and seventh days you must make yourselves pure. You must also make your prisoners pure. ²⁰ Make all your clothes pure and ‘clean.’ Everything made out of leather, goat hair or wood must be made pure and ‘clean.’ ”

²¹ Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers who had gone into battle. He said, “Here is what the law the Lord gave Moses requires. ²² All your gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead ²³ must be put through fire. So must everything else that doesn’t burn up. Then those things will be ‘clean.’ But they must also be made pure with the special water. In fact, everything that won’t burn up must be put through that water. ²⁴ On the seventh day wash your clothes. And you will be ‘clean.’ Then you can come into the camp.”

The People Divide Up What They Had Taken

²⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁶ “Here is what you and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of the community must do. You must count all the people and animals you captured. ²⁷ Divide up some of what you took with the soldiers who fought in the battle. Divide up the rest with the others in the community. ²⁸ Set apart a gift for me. Take something from the soldiers who fought in the battle. Set apart one out of every 500 people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. ²⁹ Take my gift from the soldiers’ half. Give it to Eleazar the priest. It is my share. ³⁰ Also take something from the half that belongs to the Israelites. Choose one out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites. They are responsible for taking care of my holy tent.” ³¹ So Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³² What the soldiers took included 675,000 sheep. ³³ There were also 72,000 cattle ³⁴ and 61,000 donkeys. ³⁵ And there were 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

³⁶ Here is the half that belonged to those who had fought in the battle.

⁴¹ Moses gave the gift to Eleazar the priest. It was the Lord’s share. Moses did just as the Lord had commanded him.

⁴² The other half belonged to the Israelites. Moses set it apart from what belonged to the fighting men. ⁴³ The community’s half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys ⁴⁶ and 16,000 women. ⁴⁷ Moses chose one out of every 50 people and animals. He gave them to the Levites. They were accountable for taking care of the Lord’s holy tent. Moses did just as the Lord had commanded him.

⁴⁸ Then the army officers went to Moses. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds. ⁴⁹ All of them said to Moses, “We have counted the soldiers under our command. Not a single one is missing. ⁵⁰ So we’ve brought an offering to the Lord. We’ve brought the gold each of us took in the battle. That includes armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings and necklaces. We’ve brought them in front of the Lord to pay for our sin.”

⁵¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the beautiful gold things from the army officers. ⁵² The gold received from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds weighed 420 pounds. Moses and Eleazar offered all of it as a gift to the Lord. ⁵³ Each soldier had taken things from the battle for himself. ⁵⁴ Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from all the commanders. They brought it into the tent of meeting. It reminded the Lord of the Israelites.

The Tribes on the East Side of the Jordan River

32 The tribes of Reuben and Gad had very large herds and flocks. They looked at the lands of Jazer and Gilead. They saw that those lands were just right for livestock. ² So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest. They also came to the leaders of the community. They said, ³ “We have seen the cities of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah and Heshbon. We’ve seen Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon. ⁴ All of them are in the land the Lord has brought under Israel’s control. This land is just right for livestock. And we have livestock. ⁵ We hope you are pleased with us,” they continued. “If you are, please give us this land. Then it will belong to us. But don’t make us go across the Jordan River.”

⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Gad and Reuben. He said, “Should the rest of us go to war while you stay here? ⁷ The Lord has given the land of Canaan to the Israelites. So why would you want to keep them from going over into it? ⁸ That’s what your fathers did. I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to check out the land. ⁹ They went up to the Valley of Eshkol and looked at the land. Then they talked the Israelites out of entering the land the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ The Lord’s anger was stirred up that day. So he made a promise. He said, ¹¹ ‘Not one of those who were 20 years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land. They have not followed me with their whole heart. I promised to give the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹² But not one of the people who came up out of Egypt will see the land except Caleb and Joshua. Caleb is the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite. And Joshua is the son of Nun. They will see the land. They followed the Lord with their whole heart.’ ¹³ The Lord became very angry with Israel. He made them wander around in the desert for 40 years. They wandered until all the people who had done evil in his sight had died.

¹⁴ “Now here you are, you bunch of sinners! You have taken the place of your fathers. And you are making the Lord even angrier with Israel. ¹⁵ What if you turn away from following him? Then he’ll leave all these people in the desert again. And it will be your fault when they are destroyed.”

¹⁶ Then they came up to Moses. They said, “We would like to build pens here for our livestock. We would also like to build cities for our women and children. ¹⁷ But we will prepare ourselves for battle. We’re even ready to go ahead of the Israelites. We’ll march out with them until we’ve brought them to their place. While we’re gone, our women and children will live in cities that have high walls around them. That will keep them safe from the people living in this land. ¹⁸ We won’t return to our homes until each of the Israelites has received their share of the land. ¹⁹ We won’t receive any share with them on the west side of the Jordan River. We’ve already received our share here on the east side.”

²⁰ Then Moses said to them, “Do what you have promised to do. Get ready to fight for the Lord. ²¹ Prepare yourselves and go across the Jordan River. Fight for the Lord until he has driven out his enemies in front of him. ²² When the land is under the Lord’s control, you can come back here. Your duty to the Lord and Israel will be over. Then the Lord will give you this land as your own.

²³ “But what if you fail to do your duty? Then you will be sinning against the Lord. And you may be sure that your sin will be discovered. It will be brought out into the open. ²⁴ So build up cities for your women and children. Make sheep pens for your flocks. But do what you have promised to do.”

²⁵ The people of Gad and Reuben spoke to Moses. They said, “We will do just as you command. ²⁶ Our children and wives will remain here in the cities of Gilead. So will our flocks and herds. ²⁷ But we will prepare ourselves for battle. We’ll go across the Jordan River and fight for the Lord. We will do just as you have said.”

²⁸ Then Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest. He gave the same orders to Joshua, the son of Nun. He also spoke to the family leaders of the Israelite tribes. ²⁹ He said, “The men of Gad and Reuben must get ready for battle. They must go across the Jordan River with you. They must help you fight for the Lord. They must stay with you until the land has been brought under your control. If they do, you must give them the land of Gilead as their own. ³⁰ But what if they don’t get ready for battle? What if they don’t go across the Jordan with you? Then they must accept a share with you in Canaan.”

³¹ The people of Gad and Reuben gave their answer. They said, “We will do what the Lord has said. ³² We’ll get ready for battle. We’ll go across the Jordan into Canaan. We’ll fight for the Lord there. But the property we receive will be on this side of the Jordan River.”

³³ Then Moses gave their land to them. He gave it to the tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s son. One part of that land had belonged to the kingdom of Sihon. He was the king of the Amorites. The other part had belonged to the kingdom of Og. He was the king of Bashan. Moses gave that whole land to those two and a half tribes. It included its cities and the territory around them.

³⁴ The people of Gad built up the cities of Dibon, Ataroth and Aroer. ³⁵ They built up Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran. They built a high wall around each of those cities. They also built sheep pens for their flocks. ³⁷ The people of Reuben built up Heshbon, Elealeh and Kiriathaim. ³⁸ They also built up Nebo, Baal Meon and Sibmah. They gave new names to the cities they had built up.

³⁹ The people of Makir, the son of Manasseh, went to the land of Gilead. They captured it. They drove out the Amorites living there. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to the people of Makir, the son of Manasseh. And they settled there. ⁴¹ Jair was from the family line of Manasseh. Jair captured Gilead’s settlements. He called them Havvoth Jair. ⁴² Nobah captured Kenath and the settlements around it. He named it after himself.