Numbers 31:25-47

New American Standard Bible

Division of the Plunder

²⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation take a count of the spoils ^[a]that were captured, both of people and of livestock; ²⁷ and ^(A)divide the spoils between the warriors who went to battle and all the congregation. ²⁸ Also, ^(B)collect a tribute tax for the Lord from the men of war who went to battle, one ^[b]in five hundred of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep; ²⁹ take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an ^[c]offering to the Lord. ³⁰ And from the sons of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn from every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep, from all the animals; and give them to the Levites who ^(C)perform the duty of the tabernacle of the Lord.” ³¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³² Now the spoils that remained from the plunder which the ^[d]men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, ³³ seventy-two thousand cattle, ³⁴ sixty-one thousand donkeys, ³⁵ and of captive people, of the women who had not known a ^[e]man intimately, in all were thirty-two thousand people.

³⁶ The half, the share of those who went to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500, ³⁷ the Lord’s tribute tax of the sheep was 675; ³⁸ the cattle were thirty-six thousand, from which the Lord’s tribute tax was seventy-two; ³⁹ the donkeys were 30,500, from which the Lord’s tribute tax was sixty-one; ⁴⁰ and the captive people were sixteen thousand, from whom the Lord’s tribute tax was thirty-two persons. ⁴¹ And Moses gave the tribute tax, which was the Lord’s offering, to Eleazar the priest, just ^(D)as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴² As for the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses ^[f]separated from the men who had gone to war— ⁴³ now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ thirty-six thousand cattle, ⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶ and the captive people were sixteen thousand— ⁴⁷ from the sons of Israel’s half Moses took one drawn from every fifty, both of people and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.