Numbers 31:1-13

Common English Bible

War against the Midianites

31 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² Take just reparations for the Israelites from the Midianites. Afterward you will join your ancestors.

³ Moses spoke to the people: “Equip some of your men for battle so that they may go against Midian and execute the Lord’s just punishment against Midian. ⁴ You will send out for battle one thousand from each of the tribes of Israel.”

⁵ From the thousands of Israel, one thousand from each tribe were selected. Twelve thousand were equipped for battle. ⁶ Moses sent them to battle, one thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas, Eleazar the priest’s son, who carried the sanctuary equipment and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his hand. ⁷ They battled against Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian, along with others slain. They also killed Balaam, Beor’s son, with the sword. ⁹ The Israelites took captive the Midianite women, their little ones, all their cattle, their herds, and their possessions. ¹⁰ They burned all the cities where they lived and their encampments. ¹¹ They took all the spoils of war and the valuable property, both human and animal, ¹² and they brought the captives, the valuable property, and the spoils of war to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite community, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Purification from war

¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs of the community went to meet them outside the camp.