Numbers 31 (ASV) - Holy Bible

¹And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

²Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

³And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Jehovah's vengeance on Midian.

⁴Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.

⁵So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

⁶And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

⁷And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah commanded Moses; and they slew every male.

⁸And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

⁹And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.

¹⁰And all their cities in the places wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.

¹¹And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.

¹²And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹³And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

¹⁴And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

¹⁵And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

¹⁶Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Jehovah.

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

¹⁸But all the women-children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

¹⁹And encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.

²⁰And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' `hair', and all things made of wood, ye shall purify yourselves.

²¹And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:

²²howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

²³everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.

²⁴And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

²⁵And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁶Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' `houses' of the congregation;

²⁷and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation.

²⁸And levy a tribute unto Jehovah of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, `both' of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the flocks:

²⁹take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for Jehovah's heave-offering.

³⁰And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, `even' of all the cattle, and give them unto the Levites, that keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.

³¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah commanded Moses.

³²Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

³³and threescore and twelve thousand oxen,

³⁴and threescore and one thousand asses,

³⁵and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not known man by lying with him.

³⁶And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep:

³⁷and Jehovah's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

³⁸And the oxen were thirty and six thousand; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and twelve.

³⁹And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and one.

⁴⁰And the persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Jehovah's tribute was thirty and two persons.

⁴¹And Moses gave the tribute, which was Jehovah's heave-offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

⁴²And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men that warred,

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

⁴⁴and thirty and six thousand oxen,

⁴⁵and thirty thousand and five hundred asses,

⁴⁶and sixteen thousand persons),

⁴⁷even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

⁴⁸And the officers that were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;

⁴⁹and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war that are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.

⁵⁰And we have brought Jehovah's oblation, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.

⁵¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.

⁵²And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered up to Jehovah, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

⁵³(`For' the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)

⁵⁴And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.