Conquest of the Midianites

31 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.”

³ So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian. ⁴ From each tribe of Israel, send 1,000 men into battle.” ⁵ So they chose 1,000 men from each tribe of Israel, a total of 12,000 men armed for battle. ⁶ Then Moses sent them out, 1,000 men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge. ⁷ They attacked Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. ⁸ All five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹ Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. ¹⁰ They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. ¹¹ After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, ¹² they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. ¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.