War with Midian

31 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Execute vengeance for the Israelites against the Midianites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”(A)

So Moses spoke to the people, “Equip some of your men for war. They will go against Midian to inflict the Lord’s vengeance(B) on them. Send one thousand men to war from each Israelite tribe.” So one thousand were recruited from each Israelite tribe out of the thousands[a] in Israel—twelve thousand equipped for war. Moses sent one thousand from each tribe to war. They went with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, in whose care were the holy objects and signal trumpets.

They waged war against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male.(C) Along with the others slain by them, they killed the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian.(D) They also killed Balaam son of Beor(E) with the sword. The Israelites took the Midianite women and their dependents captive, and they plundered all their cattle, flocks, and property.(F) 10 Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites lived, as well as all their encampments, 11 and took away all the spoils of war and the captives, both people and animals. 12 They brought the prisoners, animals, and spoils of war to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the Israelite community at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

13 Moses, the priest Eleazar, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moses became furious with the officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the military campaign. 15 “Have you let every female live?” he asked them. 16 “Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam’s advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the Lord in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the Lord’s community.(G) 17 So now, kill every male among the dependents and kill every woman who has gone to bed with a man,(H) 18 but keep alive for yourselves all the young females who have not gone to bed with a man.(I)

19 “You are to remain outside the camp for seven days. All of you and your prisoners who have killed a person or touched the dead are to purify yourselves on the third day and the seventh day.(J) 20 Also purify everything: garments, leather goods, things made of goat hair, and every article of wood.”(K)

21 Then the priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had gone to battle, “This is the legal statute the Lord commanded Moses: 22 The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead— 23 everything that can withstand fire—you are to pass through fire, and it will be clean. It must still be purified with the purification water.(L) Anything that cannot withstand fire, pass through the water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean.(M) After that you may enter the camp.”

25 The Lord told Moses, 26 “You, the priest Eleazar, and the family heads of the community are to take a count of what was captured, people and animals. 27 Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to war and the entire community.(N) 28 Set aside a tribute for the Lord from what belongs to the fighting men who went out to war: one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29 Take the tribute from their half and give it to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the Lord. 30 From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty from the people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats, all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who perform the duties of[b] the Lord’s tabernacle.”

31 So Moses and the priest Eleazar did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The captives remaining from the plunder the army had taken totaled:

675,000 sheep and goats,

33 72,000 cattle,

34 61,000 donkeys,

35 and 32,000 people, all the females who had not gone to bed with a man.

36 The half portion for those who went out to war numbered:

337,500 sheep and goats,

37 and the tribute to the Lord was 675

from the sheep and goats;

38 from the 36,000 cattle,

the tribute to the Lord was 72;

39 from the 30,500 donkeys,

the tribute to the Lord was 61;

40 and from the 16,000 people,

the tribute to the Lord was 32 people.

41 Moses gave the tribute to the priest Eleazar as a contribution for the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

42 From the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from the men who fought, 43 the community’s half was:

337,500 sheep and goats,

44 36,000 cattle,

45 30,500 donkeys,

46 and 16,000 people.

47 Moses took one out of every fifty, selected from the people and the livestock of the Israelites’ half. He gave them to the Levites who perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle, as the Lord had commanded him.

48 The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, approached Moses 49 and told him, “Your servants have taken a census of the fighting men under our command, and not one of us is missing. 50 So we have presented to the Lord an offering of the gold articles each man found—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”(O)

51 Moses and the priest Eleazar received from them all the articles made out of gold. 52 All the gold of the contribution they offered to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, was 420 pounds.[c] 53 Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself.(P) 54 Moses and the priest Eleazar 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.

Footnotes

  1. 31:5 Or clans
  2. 31:30 Or who protect
  3. 31:52 Lit 16,750 shekels

Psalm 75

God Judges the Wicked

For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph.(A) A song.

We give thanks to you, God;
we give thanks to you, for your name is near.(B)
People tell about your wondrous works.(C)

“When I choose a time,
I will judge fairly.(D)
When the earth and all its inhabitants shake,
I am the one who steadies its pillars.(E)Selah
I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.(F)
Do not lift up your horn against heaven[a]
or speak arrogantly.’”(G)

Exaltation does not come
from the east, the west, or the desert,
for God is the Judge:
He brings down one and exalts another.(H)
For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand,
full of wine blended with spices, and he pours from it.
All the wicked of the earth will drink,
draining it to the dregs.(I)

As for me, I will tell about him forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.(J)

10 “I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,(K)
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”(L)

Psalm 76

God, the Powerful Judge

For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph.(M) A song.

God is known in Judah;
his name is great in Israel.(N)
His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.(O)
There he shatters the bow’s flaming arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.(P)Selah

You are resplendent and majestic
coming down from the mountains of prey.(Q)
The brave-hearted have been plundered;
they have slipped into their final sleep.
None of the warriors was able to lift a hand.(R)
At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
both chariot and horse lay still.(S)

And you—you are to be feared.[b]
When you are angry,
who can stand before you?(T)
From heaven you pronounced judgment.
The earth feared and grew quiet(U)
when God rose up to judge
and to save all the lowly of the earth.(V)Selah
10 Even human wrath will praise you;
you will clothe yourself
with the wrath that remains.[c](W)

11 Make and keep your vows
to the Lord your God;(X)
let all who are around him bring tribute
to the awe-inspiring one.[d](Y)
12 He humbles the spirit of leaders;
he is feared by the kings of the earth.(Z)

Footnotes

  1. 75:5 Lit horn to the height
  2. 76:7 Or are awe-inspiring
  3. 76:10 Hb obscure
  4. 76:11 Or tribute with awe

A Pronouncement against Tyre

23 A pronouncement(A) concerning Tyre:(B)

Wail, ships of Tarshish,(C)
for your haven has been destroyed.
Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.[a](D)
Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland,
you merchants of Sidon;(E)
your agents have crossed the sea[b]
over deep water.
Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor—
the harvest of the Nile.
She was the merchant among the nations.(F)
Be ashamed, Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have not been in labor or given birth.
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.”
When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre.(G)
Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, inhabitants of the coastland!
Is this your jubilant city,
whose origin was in ancient times,
whose feet have taken her
to reside far away?
Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose traders are princes,
whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?
The Lord of Armies planned it,
to desecrate all its glorious beauty,
to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.
10 Overflow[c] your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer anything to restrain you.[d]
11 He stretched out his hand over the sea;(H)
he made kingdoms tremble.
The Lord has commanded
that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.
12 He said,
“You will not celebrate anymore,
ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon.
Get up and cross over to Cyprus(I)
even there you will have no rest!”
13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans—
a people who no longer exist.
Assyria destined it for desert creatures.
They set up their siege towers
and stripped its palaces.
They made it a ruin.
14 Wail, ships of Tarshish,
because your fortress is destroyed!

15 On that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the life span of one king. At the end of seventy years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:

16 Pick up your lyre,
stroll through the city,
you forgotten prostitute.
Play skillfully,
sing many a song
so that you will be remembered.

17 And at the end of the seventy years,(J) the Lord will restore Tyre(K) and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth. 18 But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the Lord. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the Lord’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.

Footnotes

  1. 23:1 Hb Kittim
  2. 23:2 DSS; MT reads Sidon, whom the seafarers have filled
  3. 23:10 DSS, LXX read Work
  4. 23:10 Or longer any harbor

Prologue: Our Declaration

What was from the beginning,(A) what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word(B) of life— that life was revealed,(C) and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us(D) what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship(E) with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father(F) and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things[a] so that our[b] joy(G) may be complete.

Fellowship with God

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light,(H) and there is absolutely no darkness in him.(I) If we say, “We have fellowship(J) with him,” and yet we walk in darkness,(K) we are lying and are not practicing the truth.(L) If we walk in the light(M) as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus(N) his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,”(O) we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive(P) us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word(Q) is not in us.(R)

Footnotes

  1. 1:4 Other mss add to you
  2. 1:4 Other mss read your

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