| Chapter
31 |
| 1 | And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, |
|
2 | Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt
thou be gathered unto thy people. |
|
3 | And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves
unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of
Midian. |
| 4 | Of every tribe
a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. |
| 5 | So there were delivered out
of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed
for war. |
| 6 | And Moses sent
them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of
Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to
blow in his hand. |
| 7 | And
they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew
all the males. |
| 8 | And they
slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi,
and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the
son of Beor they slew with the sword. |
|
9 | And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives,
and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their
flocks, and all their goods. |
| 10
| And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their
goodly castles, with fire. |
| 11
| And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of
beasts. |
| 12 | And they
brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the
priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at
the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho. |
| 13 | And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and
all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the
camp. |
| 14 | And Moses was
wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and
captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. |
|
15 | And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the
women alive? |
| 16 | Behold,
these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit
trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among
the congregation of the LORD. |
| 17
| Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every
woman that hath known man by lying with him. |
| 18 | But all the women children, that have not known a man
by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. |
| 19 | And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever
hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both
yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day. |
| 20 | And purify all your raiment,
and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made
of wood. |
| 21 | And Eleazar
the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the
ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses; |
| 22 | Only the gold, and the silver, the
brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, |
| 23 | Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it
go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified
with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make
go through the water. |
| 24 |
And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and
afterward ye shall come into the camp. |
| 25 | And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, |
| 26 | Take the sum of the prey that was
taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief
fathers of the congregation: |
| 27
| And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war
upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation: |
| 28 | And levy a tribute unto the
LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both
of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep: |
| 29 | Take it of their half, and
give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD. |
| 30 | And of the children of
Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the
beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them
unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD. |
| 31 | And Moses and Eleazar the
priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. |
| 32 | And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men
of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five
thousand sheep, |
| 33 | And
threescore and twelve thousand beeves, |
| 34 | And threescore and one thousand asses, |
| 35 | And thirty and two thousand persons in
all, of women that had not known man by lying with him. |
| 36 | And the half, which was the portion of
them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and
thirty thousand and five hundred sheep: |
| 37 | And the LORD's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and
threescore and fifteen. |
| 38 |
And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD's tribute
was threescore and twelve. |
| 39
| And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the
LORD's tribute was threescore and one. |
| 40 | And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the
LORD's tribute was thirty and two persons. |
| 41 | And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD's heave
offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. |
| 42 | And of the children of Israel's
half, which Moses divided from the men that warred, |
|
43 | (Now the half that pertained unto the
congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand
and five hundred sheep, |
| 44 |
And thirty and six thousand beeves, |
| 45 | And thirty thousand asses and five hundred, |
| 46 | And sixteen thousand
persons;) |
| 47 | Even of the
children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of
beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle
of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses. |
| 48 | And the officers which were over thousands of the host,
the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses: |
| 49 | And they said unto Moses,
Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge,
and there lacketh not one man of us. |
|
50 | We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every
man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and
tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD. |
| 51 | And Moses and Eleazar the priest took
the gold of them, even all wrought jewels. |
| 52 | And all the gold of the offering that they offered up
to the LORD, 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 spoil, every man
for himself.) |
| 54 | And
Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of
hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a
memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD. |
