Numbers, 31

1. The LORD said to Moses,

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

2. "Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites, and then you shall be taken to your people."

2. 'Exact the full vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites. Afterwards you will be gathered to your people.'

3. So Moses told the people, "Select men from your midst and arm them for war, to attack the Midianites and execute the LORD'S vengeance on them.

3. Moses said to the people, 'Some of you are to take up arms for Yahweh's campaign against Midian, to carry out the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian.

4. From each of the tribes of Israel you shall send a band of one thousand men to war."

4. You will put a thousand men in the field from each of the tribes of Israel.'

5. From the clans of Israel, therefore, a thousand men of each tribe were levied, so that there were twelve thousand men armed for war.

5. In this way Israel's thousands provided twelve thousand men equipped for war, one thousand from each tribe:

6. Moses sent them out on the campaign, a thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest for the campaign, who had with him the sacred vessels and the trumpets for sounding the alarm.

6. Moses put them in the field, one thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, to go with them carrying the sacred objects and the trumpets for the battle cry.

7. They waged war against the Midianites, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male among them.

7. They made war on Midian, as Yahweh had ordered Moses, and put every male to death.

8. Besides those slain in battle, they killed the five Midianite kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba; and they also executed Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword.

8. What is more, they killed the kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, the five Midianite kings; they also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword.

9. But the Israelites kept the women of the Midianites with their little ones as captives, and all their herds and flocks and wealth as spoil,

9. The Israelites took the Midianite women and their little ones captive and carried off all their cattle, all their flocks and all their goods as booty.

10. while they set on fire all the towns where they had settled and all their encampments.

10. They set fire to the towns where they lived and to all their encampments.

11. Then they took all the booty, with the people and beasts they had captured, and brought the captives, together with the spoils and booty,

11. Then, taking all their booty, everything they had captured, human and animal,

12. to Moses and the priest Eleazar and to the Israelite community at their camp on the plains of Moab, along the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.

12. they brought the captives, spoil and booty to Moses, the priest Eleazar and the whole community of Israelites at the camp on the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan by Jericho.

13. When Moses and the priest Eleazar, with all the princes of the community, went outside the camp to meet them,

13. Moses, the priest Eleazar and all the leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet them.

14. Moses became angry with the officers of the army, the clan and company commanders, who were returning from combat.

14. Moses was enraged with the officers of the army, the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds, who had come back from this military expedition.

15. "So you have spared all the women!" he exclaimed.

15. He said, 'Why have you spared the life of all the women?

16. "Why, they are the very ones who on Balaam's advice prompted the unfaithfulness of the Israelites toward the LORD in the Peor affair, which began the slaughter of the LORD'S community.

16. They were the very ones who, on Balaam's advice, caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to Yahweh in the affair at Peor: hence the plague which struck Yahweh's community.

17. Slay, therefore, every male child and every woman who has had intercourse with a man.

17. So kill all the male children and kill all the women who have ever slept with a man;

18. But you may spare and keep for yourselves all girls who had no intercourse with a man.

18. but spare the lives of the young girls who have never slept with a man, and keep them for yourselves.

19. "Moreover, you shall stay outside the camp for seven days, and those of you who have slain anyone or touched anyone slain in battle shall purify yourselves on the third and on the seventh day. This applies both to you and to your captives.

19. As for you, bivouac outside the camp for seven days, everyone who has killed anyone or touched a corpse. Purify yourselves and your prisoners on the third and seventh days,

20. You shall also purify every article of cloth, leather, goats' hair, or wood."

20. and purify all clothing, everything made of skin, everything woven of goat's hair and everything made of wood.'

21. Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had returned from combat: "This is what the law, as prescribed by the LORD to Moses, ordains:

21. The priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had come back from the campaign, 'This is an article of the Law which Yahweh prescribed to Moses:

22. Whatever can stand fire, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead,

22. although gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead,

23. you shall put into the fire, that it may become clean; however, it must also be purified with lustral water. But whatever cannot stand fire you shall put into the water.

23. everything that can withstand fire can be cleaned by being passed through fire, it must still be purified with water for purification. Whatever cannot resist fire you must pass through water.

24. On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes, and then you will again be clean. After that you may enter the camp."

24. 'Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will then be clean. You may then re-enter the camp.'

25. The LORD said to Moses:

25. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

26. "With the help of the priest Eleazar and of the heads of the ancestral houses, count up all the human captives and the beasts that have been taken;

26. 'With the priest Eleazar and the heads of families in the community, take a count of the spoils and captives, human and animal.

27. then divide them evenly, giving half to those who took active part in the war by going out to combat, and half to the rest of the community.

27. You will then share out the spoil, half and half, between those who fought the campaign and the rest of the community.

28. You shall levy a tax for the LORD on the warriors who went out to combat: one out of every five hundred persons, oxen, asses and sheep

28. From the share of the combatants who took part in the campaign, you will set aside one out of every five hundred persons, oxen, donkeys and sheep as Yahweh's portion.

29. in their half of the spoil you shall turn over to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the LORD.

29. You will take this from the half share coming to them and give it to the priest Eleazar as the portion set aside for Yahweh.

30. From the Israelites' half you shall take one out of every fifty persons, and the same from the different beasts, oxen, asses and sheep, and give them to the Levites, who have charge of the LORD'S Dwelling."

30. From the half coming to the Israelites, you will take one out of every fifty persons, oxen, donkeys, sheep, and all other animals, and give them to the Levites who are responsible for Yahweh's Dwelling.'

31. So Moses and the priest Eleazar did this, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

31. Moses and the priest Eleazar did as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

32. This booty, what was left of the loot which the soldiers had taken, amounted to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

32. The spoils, the remainder of the booty captured by the soldiers, came to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep and goats,

33. seventy-two thousand oxen,

33. seventy-two thousand head of cattle,

34. sixty-one thousand asses,

34. sixty-one thousand donkeys,

35. and thirty-two thousand girls who were still virgins.

35. and in persons, women who had never slept with a man, thirty-two thousand in all.

36. The half that fell to those who had gone out to combat was: three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

36. Half was assigned to those who had taken part in the war, namely three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep and goats,

37. of which six hundred and seventy-five fell as tax to the LORD;

37. of which Yahweh's portion was six hundred and seventy-five,

38. thirty-six thousand oxen, of which seventy-two fell as tax to the LORD;

38. thirty-six thousand head of cattle, of which Yahweh's portion was seventy-two,

39. thirty thousand five hundred asses, of which sixty-one fell as tax to the LORD;

39. thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, of which Yahweh's portion was sixty-one,

40. and sixteen thousand persons, of whom thirty-two fell as tax to the LORD.

40. and sixteen thousand persons, of which Yahweh's portion was thirty-two.

41. The taxes contributed to the LORD, Moses gave to the priest Eleazar, as the LORD had commanded him.

41. Moses gave the priest Eleazar the portion set aside for Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

42. The half for the other Israelites, which fell to the community when Moses had taken it from the soldiers, was:

42. As for the half coming to the Israelites which Moses had separated from that of the combatants,

43. three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

43. this half, the community's share, came to three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep and goats,

44. thirty-six thousand oxen,

44. thirty-six thousand head of cattle,

45. thirty thousand five hundred asses,

45. thirty thousand five hundred donkeys

46. and sixteen thousand persons.

46. and sixteen thousand persons.

47. From this, the Israelites' share, Moses, as the LORD had ordered, took one out of every fifty, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites, who had charge of the LORD'S Dwelling.

47. From this half, the Israelites' share, Moses took one out of every fifty, human and animal, and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for Yahweh's Dwelling, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

48. Then the officers who had been clan and company commanders of the army came up to Moses

48. The officers of the thousands who had fought the campaign, the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds, came to Moses

49. and said to him, "Your servants have counted up the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.

49. and said, 'Your servants have numbered the soldiers under their command: none of our men is missing.

50. So, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD, each of us will bring as an offering to the LORD some gold article he has picked up, such as an anklet, a bracelet, a ring, an earring, or a necklace."

50. So, as an offering for Yahweh, we have brought what each of us has found in the way of gold ornaments, armlets and bracelets, rings, earrings and breastplates, to make expiation for ourselves before Yahweh.'

51. Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted this gold from them, all of it in well-wrought articles.

51. Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted this gold from them, all this jewellery.

52. The gold that they gave as a contribution to the LORD amounted in all to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. This was from the clan and company commanders;

52. This portion of gold given to Yahweh by the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds amounted to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53. what the common soldiers had looted each one kept for himself.

53. Each of the soldiers took his own booty.

54. Moses, then, and the priest Eleazar accepted the gold from the clan and company commanders, and put it in the meeting tent as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

54. But Moses and the priest Eleazar, having accepted the gold from the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds, brought it into the Tent of Meeting, to be a reminder of the Israelites before Yahweh.