The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

⭑ Literal Standard Version 2020 ⭑

- Chapter 31 -

And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

“Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites—afterward you are gathered to your people.”

And Moses speaks to the people, saying, “Arm men from [among] you for the war, and they are against Midian, to put the vengeance of YHWH on Midian;

one thousand for a tribe—you send one thousand for a tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”

And there are given out of the thousands of Israel one thousand for a tribe—twelve thousand armed ones [for] war;

and Moses sends them, one thousand for a tribe, to the war; [he sent] them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the war, with the holy vessels and the trumpets of shouting in his hand.

And they war against Midian, as YHWH has commanded Moses, and slay every male;

and they have slain the kings of Midian besides their pierced ones: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five kings of Midian; and they have slain Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

And the sons of Israel take the women of Midian and their infants captive; and they have plundered all their livestock, and all their substance, and all their wealth;

and they have burned all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, with fire.

And they take all the spoil and all the prey, among man and among beast;

and they bring in the captives, and the prey, and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp, to the plains of Moab, which [are] by the Jordan, [near] Jericho.

And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, go out to meet them, to the outside of the camp,

and Moses is angry against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the warfare of battle.

And Moses says to them, “Have you kept every female alive?

Behold, they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against YHWH in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the congregation of YHWH.

And now, slay every male among the infants, indeed, slay every woman knowing a man by the lying of a male;

and all the infants among the women who have not known the lying of a male you have kept alive for yourselves.

And you, encamp at the outside of the camp [for] seven days; any who has slain a person, and any who has come against a pierced one, cleanse yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day—you and your captives;

and every garment, and every skin vessel, and every work of goats’ [hair], and every wooden vessel, you yourselves cleanse.”

And Eleazar the priest says to the men of war who go to battle, “This [is] the statute of the law which YHWH has commanded Moses:

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

everything which may go into fire, you cause to pass over through fire, and it has been clean; it is surely cleansed with the water of separation; and all that may not go into fire, you cause to pass over through water;

and you have washed your garments on the seventh day and have been clean, and afterward you come into the camp.”

Division of the Spoils

And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

“Take up the sum of the prey of the captives, among man and among beast, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers of the congregation;

and you have halved the prey between those handling the battle, who go out to the war, and all the congregation;

and you have raised a tribute to YHWH from the men of battle, who go out to the war, one body out of five hundred, of man, and of the herd, and of the donkeys, and of the flock;

you take from their half and have given [it] to Eleazar the priest [as] a raised-offering of YHWH.

And from the sons of Israel’s half you take one possession out of fifty, of man, of the herd, of the donkeys, and of the flock, of all the livestock, and you have given them to the Levites keeping the charge of the Dwelling Place of YHWH.”

And Moses does—Eleazar the priest also—as YHWH has commanded Moses.

And the prey, the remainder of the spoil which the people of the host have spoiled, is six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand of the flock;

and seventy-two thousand of the herd;

and sixty-one thousand donkeys;

and of mankind—of the women who have not known the lying of a male—all the persons [are] thirty-two thousand.

And the half, the portion of those who go out into the war, is [in] number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred of the flock.

And the tribute to YHWH of the sheep is six hundred seventy-five;

and the herd [is] thirty-six thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] seventy-two;

and the donkeys [are] thirty thousand and five hundred, and their tribute to YHWH [is] sixty-one;

and of mankind [are] sixteen thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] thirty-two persons.

And Moses gives the tribute—YHWH’s raised-offering—to Eleazar the priest, as YHWH has commanded Moses.

And of the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses halved from the men who war—

and the congregation’s half is three hundred thousand and thirty thousand [and] seven thousand and five hundred of the flock;

and thirty-six thousand of the herd;

and thirty thousand and five hundred donkeys;

and sixteen thousand of mankind—

Moses takes from the sons of Israel’s half one possession from the fifty, of man and of beast, and gives them to the Levites keeping the charge of the Dwelling Place of YHWH, as YHWH has commanded Moses.

The Voluntary Offering

And the inspectors whom the thousands of the host have (heads of the thousands and heads of the hundreds), draw near to Moses,

and they say to Moses, “Your servants have taken up the sum of the men of war who [are] with us, and not a man of us has been missed;

and we bring YHWH’s offering near, each of that which he has found of vessels of gold—chain, and bracelet, seal-ring, [ear]-ring, and bead—to make atonement for ourselves before YHWH.”

And Moses receives—Eleazar the priest also—the gold from them, every vessel of workmanship;

and all the gold of the raised-offering which they have lifted up to YHWH is sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from heads of the thousands and from heads of the hundreds;

(the men of the host have each taken spoil for himself);

and Moses takes—Eleazar the priest also—the gold from the heads of the thousands and of the hundreds, and they bring it into the Tent of Meeting [as] a memorial for the sons of Israel before YHWH.