Beginning
Chapter 31
Israel Battles the Midianites.[a] 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take vengeance upon the Midianites for the people of Israel. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”
3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of your men for war so that they might go out against the Midianites to execute the Lord’s vengeance upon Midian. 4 Send a thousand men to war from each of the tribes of Israel.”
5 So they set aside a thousand from each tribe of Israel, twelve thousand armed for battle. 6 Moses sent them out to battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Eleazar the priest. He took the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hands. 7 They battled against the Midianites, as the Lord had commanded Moses, killing all of the males. 8 They killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian, along with the others they killed. They also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with the sword.
9 The people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods. 10 They also burned down all the cities in which they dwelt and all their fortresses. 11 They took all the booty and all the spoils, both of man and beast 12 and brought the captives, the spoils, and the booty to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the assembly of the people of Israel at the camp on the plain of Moab which is near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly met them outside of the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of the thousands and the captains of the hundreds, who had returned from battle. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? 16 These are the ones who caused the people of Israel to follow the advice of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the affair of Peor, causing a plague among the assembly of the Lord. 17 Now kill every boy and kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save the girls for yourselves who have not yet slept with a man.
19 Purification after Battle.[b]“Any of you who has killed a person and anyone who has touched any of those who have been killed must stay outside of the camp for seven days. You are to purify yourself and your captives on the third and the seventh days. 20 Purify all of your clothes as well as all of your leather goods and everything made from goat hair and everything made from wood.”
21 Then Eleazar said to the men of war who had gone into battle: “This is a statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses: 22 gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, lead, 23 and anything else that can withstand fire will be pure if you pass it through fire. However, it must also be purified with the water of purification. Whatever cannot withstand fire must pass through water. 24 You will wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be pure, and you can then enter the camp.”
25 Dividing the Spoils. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 [c]“You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers’ households are to count the booty, both of man and of beast. 27 Divide the booty into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all of the assembly. 28 Establish a share for the Lord from the men of war who went out into battle: one out of five hundred, of the people, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep.
29 “Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
30 “From the half share that belongs to the people of Israel, take one out of every fifty, of people, of the cattle, of the donkeys, of the sheep, and of all the animals. Give them to the Levites who have responsibility over the sanctuary of the Lord.”
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 32 The booty remaining from the spoils that the men of war captured was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand girls who had never slept with a man.
36 The half share for those who went out to fight was three hundred thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep, 37 of which the share for the Lord was six hundred seventy-five; 38 thirty-six thousand cattle, of which the share for the Lord was seventy-two; 39 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, of which the share for the Lord was sixty-one; 40 and sixteen thousand people, of which the share for the Lord was thirty-two.
41 Moses gave the share that was the Lord’s offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42 The half share of the people of Israel, which Moses had divided from that which belonged to the men who had gone to war, 43 that is, the assembly’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep; 44 thirty-six thousand cattle; 45 thirty thousand, five hundred donkeys; 46 and sixteen thousand people. 47 From the Israelite half share, Moses took one part for every fifty from man and beast and gave it to the Levites who were responsible for the sanctuary, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
48 The officers of the army, the captains of the thousands, and the captains of the hundreds, came to Moses. 49 They said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our care, not missing one of them. 50 We have therefore brought an offering to the Lord from what each man has taken from the gold jewelry, the chains, the bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all crafted jewelry. 52 The entire gold offering that the captains of the thousands and the captains of the hundreds offered to the Lord was sixteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53 (Each of the men of war had taken booty for himself.) 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of the thousands and the captains of the hundreds and brought it to the tent of meeting as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.
Chapter 32
Settling in Transjordan. 1 The Reubenites and the Gadites[d] had very large herds and flocks. They saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for herds and flocks, 2 so the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the assembly saying, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land that the Lord has conquered before the people of Israel, are lands suitable for herds and flocks, and your servants have herds and flocks.” 5 They continued, “If we have found favor in your sight, then let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not bring us over the Jordan.”
Moses’ Response. 6 Moses said to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you rest here? 7 Why are you discouraging the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them out from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 When they went up into the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the people of Israel so that they did not enter into the land that the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord’s anger blazed on that day and he swore, 11 ‘None of those who are twenty years and older and who came out of Egypt will see the land that I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, for they have not followed me wholeheartedly. 12 Only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun, will see it for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’ 13 The Lord’s anger blazed against Israel and he made them wander in the desert for forty years until the entire generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. 14 Now, you brood of sinful men have risen up to take your fathers’ place, adding to the Lord’s blazing anger against Israel. 15 If you turn away from him again, he will leave you in the desert and you will have destroyed this entire people.”
16 Another Request. So they came up to him and said, “Let us build enclosures here for our herds and flocks and cities for our little ones. 17 We will still arm ourselves, going before the people of Israel, to bring them into their dwelling place. Our little ones will be sheltered from the inhabitants of the land in the fortified cities. 18 We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance. 19 We will not take an inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, for it has fallen to us to have an inheritance on this side of the Jordan, on the east.”
20 Settlement Reached. Then Moses said to them, “You are to do this: arm yourselves for the Lord’s war, 21 and have all your armed men go over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven out his enemies before him 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord. Then after this, you can return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel. This land will be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do this, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and be sure, your sin will catch up with you. 24 Build your cities for your little ones and your enclosures for your sheep, but then do what you have promised to do.”
25 The Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as our lord commands. 26 Our children and our wives, our flocks and our herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead. 27 But your servants will cross over, every one of them armed for battle, to fight, as my lord has proposed.”
28 Moses gave orders to Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the ancestral tribes of the people of Israel. 29 Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross over the Jordan, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30 However, if they do not cross over armed, then they will have a possession among you in the land of Canaan.”
31 The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, saying, “We will do what the Lord has said to your servants. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan. The possession of our inheritance will remain on this side of the Jordan.”[e]
33 So Moses gave to the Gadites and the Reubenites and to half of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan; he gave the land and its cities with their territory and the cities of the surrounding countryside. 34 The Gadites built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities with sheepfolds for the sheep.
37 The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, Baal-meon[f] (whose names were changed) and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities that they built.
39 The Machirites who were from Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, driving out the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt there. 41 Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took its small towns and called them Havvoth-jair. 42 Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages. He called it Nobah after himself.
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