Vengeance on Midian
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Take the vengeance of the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to give the vengeance of the LORD on Midian.
A thousand for each tribe, a thousand for each tribe, from all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”
And from the thousands of Israel a thousand for each tribe were handed over — twelve thousand armed for war.
And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand for each tribe — them, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the holy place and the trumpets for the blast in his hand.
And they made war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses; and they killed every male.
And they killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain — Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; and Balaam the son of Beor they killed with the sword.
And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their beasts, and all their livestock, and all their wealth they plundered.
And all their cities where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.
And they took all the plunder and all the spoil, of man and of beast,
and brought the captives and the spoil and the plunder 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 at Jericho.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them, outside the camp.
And Moses was wrathful with the officers of the force — the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds — who came from the campaign of the war.
And Moses said to them, “Have you let every female live?
Look — they were the ones who, by the word of Balaam, led the sons of Israel to break faith with the LORD in the matter of Peor, so that the plague came on the congregation of the LORD.
And now, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by lying with a male.
But all the little ones among the women who have not known lying with a male — keep them alive for yourselves.
And you — camp outside the camp seven days. Everyone who has killed a soul, and everyone who has touched the slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
And every garment, and every article of leather, and everything made of goats’ hair, and every article of wood — you shall purify.”
And Eleazar the priest said to the men of the war who had gone into the battle, “This is the statute of the instruction that the LORD commanded Moses:
Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead —
everything that can go through the fire — you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean; only it shall be purified with the water of impurity. And everything that cannot go through the fire you shall pass through the water.
And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and be clean; and afterward you may come into the camp.”
Division of the Spoils
And the LORD said to Moses, saying,
“Lift the head count of the spoil that was taken captive, of man and of beast — you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation —
and divide the spoil in half, between those who took part in the war, who went out to the campaign, and all the congregation.
And you shall levy a tribute for the LORD from the men of war who went out to the campaign: one soul out of five hundred, of the persons, and of the herd, and of the donkeys, and of the flock.
From their half you shall take it, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution of the LORD.
And from the half belonging to the sons of Israel you shall take one drawn out of every fifty — of the persons, of the herd, of the donkeys, and of the flock, of all the beasts — and give them to the Levites, who keep the charge of the Dwelling of the LORD.”
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
And the spoil — the rest of the plunder that the people of the campaign had plundered — was six hundred and seventy-five thousand of the flock,
and seventy-two thousand of the herd,
and sixty-one thousand donkeys,
and of human souls — of the women who had not known lying with a male — all the souls were thirty-two thousand.
And the half, the portion of those who went out to the campaign, was: the number of the flock, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred;
and the tribute for the LORD from the flock was six hundred and seventy-five;
and the herd was thirty-six thousand, and their tribute for the LORD, seventy-two;
and the donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, and their tribute for the LORD, sixty-one;
and the human souls were sixteen thousand, and their tribute for the LORD, thirty-two souls.
And Moses gave the tribute, the contribution of the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
And from the half belonging to the sons of Israel, which Moses had divided off from the men who made war —
now the congregation’s half was: of the flock, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred;
and of the herd, thirty-six thousand;
and donkeys, thirty thousand five hundred;
and human souls, sixteen thousand —
and Moses took from the half belonging to the sons of Israel the one drawn out of every fifty, of man and of beast, and gave them to the Levites, who keep the charge of the Dwelling of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
The Voluntary Offering
And the officers who were over the thousands of the force — the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds — came near to Moses,
and they said to Moses, “Your servants have lifted the head count of the men of war who are in our hand, and not a man of us is missing.
And we have brought near the offering of the LORD — what each man found: articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and ornaments — to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.”
And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all of it worked articles.
And all the gold of the contribution that they lifted up to the LORD was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from the commanders of thousands and from the commanders of hundreds.
The men of the campaign had taken plunder, each man for himself.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting — a remembrance for the sons of Israel before the LORD.