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]