Numbers, 31

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

1. The LORD said to Moses,

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

2. "Avenge the people of Israel on the Mid'ianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people."

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.

3. And Moses said to the people, "Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Mid'ian, to execute the LORD's vengeance on Mid'ian.

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

4. You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war."

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

5. So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

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.

6. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

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

7. They warred against Mid'ian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and slew every male.

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.

8. They slew the kings of Mid'ian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Mid'ian; and they also slew Balaam the son of Be'or with the sword.

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.

9. And the people of Israel took captive the women of Mid'ian and their little ones; and they took as booty all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.

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

10. All their cities in the places where they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burned with fire,

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

11. and took all the spoil and all the booty, both of man and of beast.

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.

12. Then they brought the captives and the booty and the spoil to Moses, and to Elea'zar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

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

13. Moses, and Elea'zar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp.

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.

14. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.

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

15. Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live?

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.

16. Behold, these caused the people of Israel, by the counsel of Balaam, to act treacherously against the LORD in the matter of Pe'or, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.

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

17. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.

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

18. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

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,

19. Encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever of you has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

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

20. You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood."

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:

21. And Elea'zar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle: "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:

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

22. only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

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.

23. everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of impurity; and whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water.

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

24. You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp."

25. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

25. The LORD said to Moses,

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

26. "Take the count of the booty that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Elea'zar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation;

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

27. and divide the booty into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.

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.

28. And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the flocks;

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.

29. take it from their half, and give it to Elea'zar the priest as an offering to the LORD.

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.'

30. And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of the LORD."

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

31. And Moses and Elea'zar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

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

32. Now the booty remaining of the spoil that the men of war took was: six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

33. seventy-two thousand head of cattle,

33. seventy-two thousand cattle,

34. sixty-one thousand donkeys,

34. sixty-one thousand asses,

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

35. and thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him.

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,

36. And the half, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

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

37. and the LORD's tribute of sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.

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

38. The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD's tribute was seventy-two.

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

39. The asses were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD's tribute was sixty-one.

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

40. The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD's tribute was thirty-two persons.

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

41. And Moses gave the tribute, which was the offering for the LORD, to Elea'zar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

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

42. From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had gone to war --

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

43. now the congregation's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

44. thirty-six thousand head of cattle,

44. thirty-six thousand cattle,

45. thirty thousand five hundred donkeys

45. and thirty thousand five hundred asses,

46. and sixteen thousand persons.

46. and sixteen thousand persons --

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.

47. from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every fifty, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded 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

48. Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses,

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

49. and said to Moses, "Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us.

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.'

50. And we have brought the LORD's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD."

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

51. And Moses and Elea'zar the priest received from them the gold, all wrought articles.

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.

52. And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53. Each of the soldiers took his own booty.

53. (The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)

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.

54. And Moses and Elea'zar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD.