48 Then the officers(A) who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses 49 and said to him, “Your servants have counted(B) the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.(C) 50 So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves(D) before the Lord.”

51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. 52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.[a] 53 Each soldier had taken plunder(E) for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting(F) as a memorial(G) for the Israelites before the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:52 That is, about 420 pounds or about 190 kilograms

48 Then the leaders of the thousands of the army, the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, approached Moses, 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken count[a] of the men of war who were in our charge,[b] and no man is missing from us. 50 So we brought the offering of Yahweh, what each man found, objects of gold, bangles,[c] bracelets,[d] rings,[e] earrings,[f] and female ornaments,[g] to make atonement for ourselves before[h] Yahweh.” 51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all objects of work. 52 All the gold of the contribution that they raised up to Yahweh, from the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53 The men of battle plundered each for himself. 54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of the thousands and hundreds, and they brought it to the tent of the assembly as a memorial for the Israelites[i] before Yahweh.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:49 Literally “lifted up the head”
  2. Numbers 31:49 Literally “in our hand”
  3. Numbers 31:50 Hebrew “bangle”
  4. Numbers 31:50 Hebrew “bracelet”
  5. Numbers 31:50 Hebrew “ring”
  6. Numbers 31:50 Hebrew “earring”
  7. Numbers 31:50 Hebrew “ornament”
  8. Numbers 31:50 Literally “in the presence of”
  9. Numbers 31:54 Literally “sons/children of Israel”