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 Lords tribute tax of the sheep was 675; 38 the cattle were thirty-six thousand, from which the Lords tribute tax was seventy-two; 39 the donkeys were 30,500, from which the Lords tribute tax was sixty-one; 40 and the captive people were sixteen thousand, from whom the Lords tribute tax was thirty-two persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute tax, which was the Lords 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:26 Lit of captives
  2. Numbers 31:28 Lit soul from
  3. Numbers 31:29 Or uplifted offering, and so throughout the ch
  4. Numbers 31:32 Lit people
  5. Numbers 31:35 Lit man’s bed
  6. Numbers 31:42 Lit divided

25 The Lord said to Moses: 26 You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community’s households must take an inventory of the valuable property and the captives, both human and animals, 27 and divide the valuable property between the warriors who went into battle and the entire community. 28 You will offer as tribute to the Lord from each warrior who went into battle one living being in five hundred, whether human, oxen, donkeys, or flocks. 29 Take it from the warriors’ half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a gift offering to the Lord. 30 But from the Israelites’ half you will take one out of every fifty, whether from human, oxen, donkeys, or flock—all the animals. You will give them to the Levites who carry out the duties of the Lord’s dwelling.

31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The valuable property remaining from the spoils of war that the people of the army had taken was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 oxen, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 women who hadn’t known a man intimately by sleeping with him. 36 The half-share of those who had gone out to battle numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 of which the Lord’s tribute was 675. 38 The oxen were 36,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61. 40 Humans were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 persons. 41 Moses gave the tribute, a gift offering for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest as the Lord had commanded Moses.

42 As for the half-share of the Israelites that Moses divided from those who had gone out to battle: 43 the community’s half-share was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 oxen, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 humans. 47 Moses took from the Israelites’ half one out of every fifty, from humans and animals. He gave them to the Levites who carry out the duties of the Lord’s dwelling, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

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