Numbers 31:1-13

Lexham English Bible

War Against the Midianites

31 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Seek vengeance for the Israelites^[a] on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people.” ³ Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm yourself from among your men for the battle, so that they will go^[b] against Midian to mete out the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian. ⁴ A thousand from each tribe of every tribe of Israel you will send to battle.” ⁵ So theywere assigned from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand equipped for battle. ⁶ Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the battle, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the battle with them, and the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets of the blast were in his hand. ⁷ And they fought against Midian just as Yahweh commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian in addition to the ones they had slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam son of Beor by the sword. ⁹ The Israelites^[c] took captive the women of Midian and their children, and they plundered all their domestic animals and all their livestock and all their wealth. ¹⁰ They burned all their cities where they dwelled and all their camps with fire. ¹¹ They took all the plunder and all the war-booty with the humans^[d] and domestic animals.^{[e] 12} They brought the captives, the war-booty, and the plunder to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the community of the Israelites,^[f] to the camp to the desert-plateau of Moab, which was on the Jordan across Jericho.

¹³ And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.