Vengeance on Midian

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, and said, ² “Avenge the Israelites against the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

³ Moses spoke to the people and said, “Arm your men for war against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance. ⁴ Send 1,000 men from each tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel, to fight.” ⁵ So 12,000 men were armed for battle: 1,000 from each tribe.

⁶ Moses sent them to war, 1,000 from every tribe, along with Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest to bring the sanctuary vessels and the trumpets for sounding an alarm.

⁷ They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses and slayed all their men. ⁸ They killed the five kings of Midian (Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba) with the rest of their slain. They also killed Balaam, son of Beor by sword. ⁹ The Israelites took the Midianite women and children captive along with all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, as plunder. ¹⁰ They set all their cities and camps on fire ¹¹ and took all the captives and plunder, both people and animals. ¹² They brought the captives and the plunder to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite community, to the camp at the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹³ Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the leaders of the community, went out to meet them outside of the camp. ¹⁴ But Moses was angry with the returning officers, the captains over 1,000’s and the captains over 100’s.

¹⁵ Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? ¹⁶ They are the ones who, through Balam’s counsel, caused the Israelites to sin against the Lord in the incident at Peor, bringing a plague on the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Now therefore kill every male child and every woman who is not a virgin. ¹⁸ But keep all the virgin girls alive for yourselves.

¹⁹ Anyone among you who has killed someone or touched a dead body must stay outside of the camp for seven days. Purify both yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh day. ²⁰ You shall purify every garment and everything that is made of leather, goats’ hair, or wood.”

²¹ Eleazar the priest said to the men who had fought in the war, “This is the established ordinance which the Lord commanded Moses: ²² gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead; ²³ everything that can withstand fire, you must purify by fire, and it will be clean, but it must also be purified with water. All that cannot withstand fire you shall purify in water. ²⁴ You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you may come into the camp.”

Dividing up the Spoils

²⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ²⁶–“You, Eleazar the priest and the heads of each family in the community are to make a record of all the plunder that was taken, both people and animals, ²⁷ and divide the plunder into two parts: between the soldiers who fought in battle and the rest of the community. ²⁸ From the soldiers’ portion, levy a tribute to the Lord: one out of every 500 people, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats. ²⁹ Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, for the Lord’s Wave Offering. ³⁰ Of the Israelite communities’ half, you shall take one out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

³¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. ³² Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the soldiers took, was:

675,000 sheep and goats,
³³ 72,000 cattle,
³⁴ 61,000 donkeys,
³⁵ and 32,000 virgin girls.

³⁶ The soldiers’ half was:

337,500 sheep,
³⁷ and the Lord’s tribute of the sheep was 675.
³⁸ 36,000 cattle,
of which 72 were the Lord’s tribute.
³⁹ 37,500 donkeys,
of which 61 were the Lord’s tribute.
⁴⁰ 16,000 people,
of which 32 were the Lord’s tribute.

⁴¹ Moses gave the tribute, which was Lord’s Wave Offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴² The half that was designated for the Israelite community, which Moses had divided from the soldiers’ half, ⁴³ their half was:

337,500 sheep,
⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle,
⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys,
⁴⁶ and 16,000 people.

⁴⁷ From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every 50, of both people and animals, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the Lord’s tabernacle, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Voluntary Offering

⁴⁸ The officers who were over 1,000’s in the army, the captains of 1,000’s, and the captains of 100’s, went to Moses. ⁴⁹ They said to him, “Your servants have counted all the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing from battle. ^50.We have brought an offering to the Lord from what all of us found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our lives before the Lord.”

⁵¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted their gold and jewelry. ⁵² All the gold for the Wave Offering that they offered up to the Lord, from the captains of 1,000’s and captains of 100’s, was 421 pounds. ⁵³.The soldiers had each taken booty for himself. ⁵⁴ Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold and brought it into the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites and offered it as a memorial to the Lord.

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