| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1The LORD spoke to Moses, " | 1Later, the LORD told Moses, |
| 2Execute vengeance for the Israelites against the Midianites. After that, you will be gathered to your people." | 2"Be sure to exact vengeance on behalf of the Israelis from the Midianites, after which you'll be taken home to your people." |
| 3So Moses spoke to the people, "Equip some of your men for war. They will go against Midian to inflict the LORD's vengeance on them. | 3So Moses instructed the people, "Muster your men of war to attack the Midianites and deliver the LORD'S vengeance against Midian. |
| 4Send 1,000 men to war from each Israelite tribe." | 4Send 1,000 men to war from every tribe throughout all of Israel." |
| 5So 1,000 were recruited from each Israelite tribe out of the thousands in Israel--12,000 equipped for war. | 5So 1,000 men from every tribe—12,000 from the thousands of Israel—were mustered and equipped for war. |
| 6Moses sent 1,000 from each tribe to war. They went with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, in whose care were the holy objects and signal trumpets. | 6Moses sent 1,000 men from every tribe to fight against them, along with Eleazar's son Phinehas, in whose hands were the articles of the sanctuary and trumpets to sound battle alarms. |
| 7They waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male. | 7They fought against the Midianites just as the LORD had commanded Moses, killing every man. |
| 8Along with the others slain by them, they killed the Midianite kings--Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. | 8They executed the five kings of Midian, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also executed Beor's son Balaam with a sword. |
| 9The Israelites took the Midianite women and their children captive, and they plundered all their cattle, flocks, and property. | 9After this, the Israelis took captive the Midianite women and children and confiscated as spoils of war all their cattle, livestock, and their goods. |
| 10Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites lived, as well as all their encampments, | 10They burned every town where they had lived and incinerated all of their encampments. |
| 11and took away all the spoils of war and the captives, both man and beast. | 11They took all the booty and plunder, including both humans and animals. |
| 12They brought the prisoners, animals, and spoils of war to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite community at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. | 12Then they brought the captives, booty, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the entire community of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River in Jericho. |
| 13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. | 13Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp. |
| 14But Moses became furious with the officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the military campaign. " | 14But Moses became livid with anger at the officers of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds who had returned from servicing in the battle. |
| 15Have you let every female live?" he asked them. " | 15"Did you keep all the women alive?" Moses asked them. |
| 16Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam's advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the LORD in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the LORD's community. | 16"Look! These women were the same ones who were counseled by Balaam to cause the Israelis to commit a grievous sin against the LORD at Peor. As a result, that plague infected the LORD's community. |
| 17So now, kill all the male children and kill every woman who has had sexual relations with a man, | 17You are to kill every male child and every woman who has had sexual relations with a man. |
| 18but keep alive for yourselves all the young females who have not had sexual relations." | 18You are to allow the young women who haven't yet had sexual relations with a man to live for yourselves." |
| 19You are to remain outside the camp for seven days. All of you and your prisoners who have killed a person or touched the dead are to purify yourselves on the third day and the seventh day. | 19"Now you are to stay outside the camp for seven days, after which any of you who has killed a person or touched someone who was killed may purify yourselves on the third day. You and your captives will be pure on the seventh day. |
| 20Also purify everything: garments, leather goods, things made of goat hair, and every article of wood." | 20Furthermore, you are to purify every garment—that is, everything made of leather, goat's hair, or containing wood." |
| 21Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to battle, "This is the legal statute the LORD commanded Moses: | 21Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone to battle, "This is the ordinance of the law that the LORD commanded Moses |
| 22Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead-- | 22concerning anything containing gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, lead, |
| 23everything that can withstand fire--you are to pass through fire, and it will be clean. It must still be purified with the purification water. Anything that cannot withstand fire, pass through the water. | 23or anything else that can survive a refiner's fire: You are to pass it through fire, after which it will be clean. Then it is to be purified with the water of impurity. Everything that cannot survive a refiner's fire is to be washed in water. |
| 24On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp." | 24Wash your clothes on the seventh day, after which you will be clean. Then you may enter the camp." |
| 25The LORD told Moses, " | 25Then the LORD told Moses, |
| 26You, Eleazar the priest, and the family leaders of the community are to take a count of what was captured, man and beast. | 26"Take an inventory of the booty that was taken in the battle, both of humans and of animals. Then you, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers of the community |
| 27Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to war and the entire community. | 27are to divide the booty between the warriors who went to war and the rest of the community. |
| 28Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the fighting men who went out to war: one out of every 500 humans, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. | 28"After this, you are to exact a tribute for the LORD from the soldiers who went to war, consisting of the tribute earned by one person out of every 500, whether from people, cattle, donkeys, or flocks. |
| 29Take the tribute from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. | 29You are to take half their share and give it to Eleazar the priest as a raised offering to the LORD. |
| 30From the Israelites' half, take one out of every 50 from the people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats, all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who perform the duties of the LORD's tabernacle." | 30Then take half the share of the Israelis, one drawn out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, flocks, and from every animal, then give to the descendants of Levi who maintain the service of the LORD's tent." |
| 31So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. | 31So Moses and Eleazar the priest did what the LORD had commanded Moses. |
| 32The captives remaining from the plunder the army had taken totaled: 675,000 sheep and goats, | 32The goods confiscated in excess of the war implements that the warriors had gathered included 675,000 sheep, |
| 33 72,000 cattle, | 3372,000 cattle, |
| 34 61,000 donkeys, | 3461,000 donkeys, and |
| 35and 32,000 people, all the females who had not had sexual relations with a man. | 3532,000 women who had not had sexual relations with a man. |
| 36The half portion for those who went out to war numbered: 337,500 sheep and goats, | 36Now half of the share of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep, |
| 37and the tribute to the LORD was 675 from the sheep and goats; | 37so the LORD's tribute from the sheep totaled 675. |
| 38from the 36,000 cattle, the tribute to the LORD was 72; | 38The cattle numbered 36,000, so the LORD's tribute totaled 72. |
| 39from the 30,500 donkeys, the tribute to the LORD was 61; | 39The donkeys numbered 30,500, so the LORD's tribute totaled 61. |
| 40and from the 16,000 people, the tribute to the LORD was 32 people. | 40The people numbered 16,000, so the LORD's tribute totaled 32 people. |
| 41Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as a contribution for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. | 41Then Moses gave the tribute, a raised offering to the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. |
| 42From the Israelites' half, which Moses separated from the men who fought, | 42From half of the share of the Israelis that Moses had set aside from the soldiers, |
| 43the community's half was: 337,500 sheep and goats, | 43there were 337,500 sheep for the community, |
| 44 36,000 cattle, | 4436,000 cattle, |
| 45 30,500 donkeys, | 4530,500 donkeys, |
| 46and 16,000 people. | 46and 16,000 people. |
| 47Moses took one out of every 50, selected from the people and the livestock of the Israelites' half. He gave them to the Levites who perform the duties of the LORD's tabernacle, as the LORD had commanded him. | 47Moses took a portion drawn from every 50 Israelis, including from both human and animals, and gave them to the descendants of Levi who maintained the LORD's tent, just as the LORD had commanded him. |
| 48The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, approached Moses | 48Then the officers in charge of thousands of soldiers, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds approached Moses |
| 49and told him, "Your servants have taken a census of the fighting men under our command, and not one of us is missing. | 49and told him, "Your servants took a count of the soldiers who were under our authority. We didn't miss a single man. |
| 50So we have presented to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man found--armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces--to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD." | 50We've brought offerings to the LORD from whatever each man found—jewel-encrusted gold, anklets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves in the LORD's presence." |
| 51Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them all the articles made out of gold. | 51Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them and everything that was fashioned into jewels. |
| 52All the gold of the contribution they offered to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, was 420 pounds. | 52The gold for the raised offering that they brought to the LORD totaled 16,750 shekels, |
| 53Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself. | 53because every soldier had confiscated war booty for his own use. |
| 54Moses and Eleazar 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 Israelites before the LORD. | 54Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the captains of thousands and hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, to serve as a memorial to the Israelis in the LORD's presence. |
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