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25 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation; 27 and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 28 Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh’s wave offering. 30 Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle.”

31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

32 Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand head of cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep; 37 and Yahweh’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five. 38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which Yahweh’s tribute was seventy-two. 39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which Yahweh’s tribute was sixty-one. 40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom Yahweh’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 42 Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought 43 (now the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand head of cattle, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons), 47 even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

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Offerings from War Booty

25 Then the Lord told Moses, 26 “Take an inventory of the booty that was taken in the battle,[a] both of humans and of animals. Then you, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers of the community 27 are to divide the booty between the warriors who went to war and the rest of the community.

28 “After this, you are to exact a tribute for the Lord from the soldiers who went to war, consisting of the tribute earned by one person out of every 500, whether from people, cattle, donkeys, or flocks. 29 You are to take half their share and give it to Eleazar the priest as a raised offering to the Lord. 30 Then take half the share of the Israelis, one drawn out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, flocks, and from every animal, then give to the descendants of Levi who maintain the service of the Lord’s tent.”

31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did what the Lord had commanded Moses. 32 The goods confiscated in excess of the war implements[b] that the warriors had gathered included 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, and 35 32,000 women who had not had sexual relations with a man.

God’s Portion of the War Booty

36 Now half of the share of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 so the Lord’s tribute from the sheep totaled 675. 38 The cattle numbered 36,000, so the Lord’s tribute totaled 72. 39 The donkeys numbered 30,500, so the Lord’s tribute totaled 61. 40 The people[c] numbered 16,000, so the Lord’s tribute totaled 32 people. 41 Then Moses gave the tribute, a raised offering to the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 42 From half of the share of the Israelis that Moses had set aside from the soldiers, 43 there were 337,500 sheep for the community, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 people.

47 Moses took a portion drawn from every 50 Israelis, including from both human and animals, and gave them to the descendants of Levi who maintained the Lord’s tent, just as the Lord had commanded him.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:26 The Heb. lacks in the battle
  2. Numbers 31:32 Lit. booty
  3. Numbers 31:40 MT as soul of man
  4. Numbers 31:47 Lit. Moses