Vengeance on Midian

1And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Avenge the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianite; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

3And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianite, to put the vengeance of YHWH on Midian. 4A thousand from a tribe, a thousand from a tribe, to all the tribes of Israel, you⁺ shall send to the war.”

5And there were given out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from a tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from a tribe, and he sent them to the war along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and the holy vessels, and the signal and the trumpets in his hand.

7And they warred against the Midianite, as YHWH had commanded Moses; and they killed all the males. 8And the kings of Midian they killed with their pierced ones—Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five kings of Midian; and Balaam son of Beor they also killed with the sword.

9And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian, with their little ones, and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and they plundered all their goods. 10And also all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts, they burned with the fire. 11And they took all the spoil and all the plunder of the man and the beast.

12And they brought to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel the captives, and the plunder, and the spoil—to the camp in the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan near Jericho. 13And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them toward outside the camp.

14And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, chiefs of the thousands and chiefs of the hundreds, who were coming in from the battle. 15And Moses said to them, “Have you⁺ kept alive every female? 16Behold, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against YHWH in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of YHWH. 17And now kill every male among the little ones, and every woman who has known a man by lying with him you must kill. 18And every child among the women who have not known the bed of a man, you shall keep alive for yourselves.

19And as for you⁺, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched a pierced one—purify you⁺ and your⁺ captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20And every garment, and everything made of leather, and everything woven of goats’ hair, and every wood vessel, you⁺ shall purify.”

21And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that YHWH has commanded Moses: 22Only the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead— 23everything that can endure the fire—you⁺ shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, with the water of purification it shall be purified. And all that cannot endure the fire, you⁺ shall put through the water. 24And you⁺ shall wash your⁺ clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you⁺ may come into the camp.”

Division of the Spoils

25And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 26“Count up the sum of the plunder that was taken of the man and the beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers of the congregation. 27And divide the plunder between those handling the war who went out to the battle, and between all the congregation.

28And raise a tribute for YHWH from the men of war who went out to battle: One soul of every five hundred, of the persons, and the cattle, and the donkeys, and the sheep. 29From their half you⁺ shall take and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to YHWH.

30And from half the sons of Israel, you shall take one portion of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of YHWH.”

31And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as YHWH had commanded Moses. 32And this was and the plunder remaining from the plunder that the men of war had taken:

Six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

33and of the herd two and seventy thousand,

34and one and sixty thousand donkeys,

35and persons of women who had not known the lying with a man, all the persons, two and thirty thousand.

36And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war:

The number of the sheep was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, 37and the tribute to YHWH of the sheep was six hundred five and seventy.

38And the cattle, six and thirty thousand, and their tribute to YHWH, two and seventy.

39And the donkeys were thirty thousand and five hundred, and their tribute to YHWH one and sixty.

40And the persons were sixteen thousand, and their tribute to YHWH two and thirty persons.

41And Moses gave the tribute—the contribution to YHWH—to Eleazar the priest, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

42And from half of the sons of Israel, which Moses separated from the men who fought; 43and the half belonging to the congregation was:

Of the flock three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand, and five hundred,

44and of the herd six and thirty thousand,

45and donkeys thirty thousand and five hundred,

46and persons sixteen thousand.

47And Moses took from the sons of Israel half of one possession of every fifty, man and beast, and he gave to them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of YHWH, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

The Voluntary Offering

48And the officers who were over thousands of the army, captains of the thousands and captains of the hundreds, came near to Moses, 49and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing. 50And we have brought YHWH an offering for every man from that which he has found, of ornaments of gold, armlets, and bracelets, and signet rings, and earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement upon our souls before the face of YHWH.”

51And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them—all the fashioned ornaments. 52And all the gold of the offering that they offered to YHWH was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels,† from captains of the thousands and captains of the hundreds. 53The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. 54And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of the thousands and of the hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the face of YHWH.