48 Then (A)the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50 And we have brought the Lord's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, (B)to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52 And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.[a] 53 (C)(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, (D)as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:52 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

48 Then the officers in charge of thousands of soldiers, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds approached Moses 49 and told him,[a] “Your servants took a count of the soldiers who were under our authority. We didn’t miss a single man. 50 We’ve brought offerings to the Lord from whatever each man found—jewel-encrusted gold, anklets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves[b] in the Lord’s presence.”

51 Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them and everything that was fashioned into jewels. 52 The gold for the raised offering that they brought to the Lord totaled 16,750 shekels, 53 because every soldier had confiscated war booty for his own use. 54 Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the captains of thousands and hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, to serve as a memorial to the Israelis in the Lord’s presence.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:49 Lit. Moses
  2. Numbers 31:50 Or our soul