Numbers 31:1-24
Young's Literal Translation
31 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
2 `Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites -- afterwards thou art gathered unto thy people.'
3 And Moses speaketh unto the people, saying, `Be ye armed some of you for the host, and they are against Midian, to put the vengeance of Jehovah on Midian;
4 a thousand for a tribe -- a thousand for a tribe, to all the tribes of Israel -- ye do send to the host.'
5 And there are given out of the thousands of Israel a thousand for a tribe, twelve thousand armed ones of the host;
6 and Moses sendeth them, a thousand for a tribe, to the host, them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the host; and the holy vessels, and the trumpets of the shouting, in his hand.
7 And they war against Midian, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses, and slay every male;
8 and the kings of Midian they have slain, besides their pierced ones, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam son of Beor, they have slain with the sword.
9 And the sons of Israel take captive the women of Midian, and their infants; and all their cattle, and all their substance, and all their wealth they have plundered;
10 and all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, they have burnt with fire.
11 And they take all the spoil, and all the prey, among man and among beast;
12 and they bring in, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the company of the sons of Israel, the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto the camp, unto the plains of Moab, which [are] by Jordan, [near] Jericho.
13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the company, go out to meet them, unto the outside of the camp,
14 and Moses is wroth against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the host of the battle.
15 And Moses saith unto them, `Have ye kept alive every female?
16 lo, they -- they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the company of Jehovah.
17 `And now, slay ye every male among the infants, yea, every woman known of man by the lying of a male ye have slain;
18 and all the infants among the women, who have not known the lying of a male, ye have kept alive for yourselves.
19 `And ye, encamp ye at the outside of the camp seven days -- any who hath slain a person, and any who hath come against a pierced one, ye cleanse yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day -- ye and your captives;
20 and every garment, and every skin vessel, and every work of goats' [hair], and every wooden vessel, ye yourselves cleanse.'
21 And Eleazar the priest saith unto the men of the host who go in to battle, `This [is] the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:
22 only, the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 every thing which may go into fire, ye cause to pass over through fire, and it hath been clean; only, with the water of separation it is cleansed, and all that may not go into fire, ye cause to pass over through water;
24 and ye have washed your garments on the seventh day, and have been clean, and afterwards ye come in unto the camp.'
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Numbers 31:1-24
New American Standard Bible
The Slaughter of Midian
31 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “(A)Take vengeance on the Midianites for the sons of Israel; afterward you will be (B)gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, so that they may [a]go against Midian to execute (C)the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were selected from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, (D)and the holy implements and (E)the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 So they made war against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and (F)they killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of those killed: (G)Evi, Rekem, (H)Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed (I)Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and they plundered all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their property. 10 Then they [b]burned all their cities where they lived and all their encampments. 11 And (J)they took all the plunder and all the spoils, both of people and of livestock. 12 They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab which are by the Jordan, opposite Jericho.
13 And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moses was 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 And Moses said to them, “Have you [c]spared (K)all the women? 16 (L)Behold, they caused the sons of Israel, through the [d]counsel of (M)Balaam, to be unfaithful to the Lord in the matter of Peor, so that the plague took place among the congregation of the Lord! 17 (N)Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man [e]intimately. 18 However, all the [f]girls who have not known a [g]man intimately, keep alive for yourselves. 19 (O)And as for you, camp outside the camp for seven days; whoever has killed a person and whoever has touched anyone killed, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 And you shall purify for yourselves every garment, every article of leather, every work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the statute of the Law which the Lord has commanded Moses: 22 only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can [h]withstand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it will be clean, only it shall be purified with (P)water for impurity. But whatever cannot [i]withstand the fire you shall pass through the water. 24 And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean; and afterward you may enter the camp.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 31:3 Lit be
- Numbers 31:10 Lit burned with fire
- Numbers 31:15 Lit let...live
- Numbers 31:16 Lit word
- Numbers 31:17 Lit in bed with a man
- Numbers 31:18 Lit children among the women
- Numbers 31:18 Lit man’s bed
- Numbers 31:23 Lit come into
- Numbers 31:23 Lit come into
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