Beginning
Israel Attacks the Midianites
31 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 2 “Pay back the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After that you will die.”
3 So Moses said to the people, “Get some men ready for war. The Lord will use them to pay back the Midianites. 4 Send to war 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So 12,000 men got ready for war. There were 1,000 men from each tribe. 6 Moses sent those 1,000 men from each tribe to war. Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest was with them. He took with him the holy things and the trumpets. 7 They fought the Midianites as the Lord had commanded Moses. And they killed every Midianite man. 8 Among those they killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They were the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with a sword.
9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children. They also took all their flocks, herds and goods. 10 Then they burned all the Midianite towns and camps. 11 They took all the people and animals and goods. 12 Then they went back to Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the Israelites. They brought back the captives, the animals and the goods. The camp was on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River. This was across from Jericho.
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the people went outside the camp to meet them. 14 Moses was angry with the army officers who returned from war. He was angry with those commanders over 1,000 men and those over 100 men.
15 He asked them, “Why did you let the women live? 16 They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice. They turned the Israelites from the Lord at Peor. Then a terrible sickness struck the Lord’s people. 17 Kill all the Midianite boys. Kill all the Midianite women who have had physical relations. 18 But save the girls for yourselves who are virgins.
19 “All you men who killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh days you and your captives must make yourselves clean. 20 You must clean all your clothes. And you must clean anything made of leather, wool or wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers who had gone to war. He said, “These are the teachings that the Lord gave to Moses. 22 Put any gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin or lead into the fire. 23 Put into the fire anything that will not burn. Then wash those things with the cleansing water. Then they will be clean. If something cannot stand the fire, wash it with the water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes. Then you will be clean. After that you may come into the camp.”
Dividing the Goods
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You, Eleazar the priest and the leaders should take a count. Count the goods, the men and the animals that were taken. 27 Then divide those things between the soldiers who went to war and the rest of the people. 28 Tax the soldiers who went to war. The Lord’s share is 1 thing out of every 500 things. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats. 29 Take it from the soldiers’ half. And give it to Eleazar the priest. It is the Lord’s share. 30 And from the people’s half, take 1 thing out of every 50. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give that to the Levites. They take care of the Lord’s Holy Tent.” 31 So Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 There remained from what the soldiers had taken 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women. These were the women who were virgins. 36 The soldiers who went to war got 337,500 sheep. 37 They gave 675 of the sheep to the Lord. 38 They got 36,000 cattle. They gave 72 of them to the Lord. 39 They got 30,500 donkeys. They gave 61 of them to the Lord. 40 They got 16,000 people. And they gave 32 of them to the Lord. 41 Moses gave the Lord’s share to Eleazar the priest. This was what the Lord had commanded him.
42 Moses separated the people’s half from the soldiers’ half. 43 The people got 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the people’s half Moses took 1 thing out of every 50 for the Lord. This included the animals and the people. Then he gave them to the Levites. They took care of the Lord’s Holy Tent. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.
48 Then the officers of the army came to Moses. They were the commanders of 1,000 men and commanders of 100 men. 49 They told Moses, “We, your servants, have counted our soldiers under our command. Not one of them is missing. 50 So we have brought the Lord a gift. We have brought the gold things that each of us found: arm bands, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces. These are to remove our sins so we will belong to the Lord.”
51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold things from them. 52 The commanders of 1,000 men and the commanders of 100 men gave the Lord the gold. All of it together weighed about 420 pounds. 53 Each soldier had taken something for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of 1,000 men and the commanders of 100 men. Then they put it in the Meeting Tent. It was a memorial before the Lord for the people of Israel.
The Tribes East of the Jordan
32 The people of Reuben and Gad had many cattle. They saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were good for cattle. 2 So they came to Moses, Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the people. 3-4 They said, “We, your servants, have many cattle. The Lord has captured for the Israelites a land that is good for cattle. This is the land around Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon. 5 If it pleases you, we would like this land to be given to us. Don’t make us cross the Jordan River.”
6 Moses told the people of Gad and Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you stay behind? 7 You will discourage the Israelites. They will not want to go over to the land the Lord has given them. 8 Your ancestors did the same thing. From Kadesh Barnea I sent them to look at the land. 9 They went as far as the Valley of Eshcol. They saw the land. And they discouraged the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord became very angry that day. He made this promise: 11 ‘None of the people who came from Egypt and who are 20 years old or older will see this land. I promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But these people have not followed me completely. 12 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun followed the Lord completely.’
13 “The Lord was very angry with Israel. So he made them wander in the desert for 40 years. Finally all the people who had sinned against him had died. 14 And now you are acting just like your fathers! You sinful people are making the Lord even more angry with Israel. 15 If you quit following the Lord, it will add to their stay in the desert. So you will destroy all these people.”
16 But the Reubenites and Gadites came up to Moses. They said, “We will build pens for our animals. And we will build cities for our wives and children here. 17 Then our families will be in strong, walled cities. They will be safe from the people who live in this land. Then we will prepare for war. We will help the other Israelites get their land. 18 We will not return home until every Israelite has received his land. 19 We won’t take any of the land west of the Jordan River. Our part of the land is east of the Jordan.”
20 So Moses told them, “You must do these things. You must go before the Lord into battle. 21 You must cross the Jordan River armed. The Lord will force out the enemy. 22 After the Lord helps us take the land, you may return home. You will have done your duty to the Lord and Israel. Then you may have this land as your own.
23 “But if you don’t do these things, you will be sinning against the Lord. And know for sure that you will be punished for your sin. 24 Build cities for your wives and children and pens for your animals. But then you must do what you promised.”
25 The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “We are your servants. We will do what you, our master, command. 26 Our wives, children and all our cattle will stay in the cities of Gilead. 27 But we, your servants, will prepare for battle. We will go over and fight for the Lord, as you have said.”
28 So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest. And he gave them to Joshua son of Nun and the leaders of the tribes of Israel. 29 Moses said to them, “The Gadites and Reubenites will prepare for battle. They will cross the Jordan River with you. They will go before the Lord and help you take the land. If they do that, give them the land of Gilead for their own. 30 But if they do not go over armed, they will not receive it. Their land will be in Canaan with you.”
31 The Gadites and Reubenites answered, “We are your servants. We will do as the Lord said. 32 We will cross over into Canaan. We will go before the Lord ready for battle. But our land will be east of the Jordan River.”
33 So Moses gave that land to the Gadites, Reubenites and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. (Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) That land had been the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. And it included the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan. It also included all the cities and the land around them.
34 The Gadites rebuilt the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran. These were strong, walled cities. And they built sheep pens.
37 The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, Baal Meon and Sibmah. They renamed Nebo and Baal Meon when they rebuilt them.
39 The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went and captured Gilead. They forced out the Amorites who were there. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to the family of Makir son of Manasseh. And they settled there. 41 Jair son of Manasseh went out and captured the small towns there. He called them the Towns of Jair. 42 Nobah went and captured Kenath and the small towns around it. Then he named it Nobah after himself.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.