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Numbers 31 – Verses from Numbers 31 from the book of Numbers in the Bible.
1 The Lord said to Moses:
2 “Take revenge on the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After that you will be reunited with your ancestors.”
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Arm some of the men to go to war against the Midianites and execute the Lord’s vengeance on them.
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4 Send a thousand men from each tribe of Israel into battle.”
5 Twelve thousand armed men for war, a thousand from each tribe, were sent by the clans of Israel.
6 Moses sent them to war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, who took with him objects from the sanctuary and the trumpets for the war blow.
7 So they fought against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed all the men.
8 Among the dead were the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rechem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianites' livestock and possessions as booty.
10 They burned all the cities where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.
11 They took all the spoils, including people and animals,
12 and they took the prisoners, men and women, and the spoils to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the community of Israel in their camp in the plains of Moab, on the other side of Jericho.
13 Moses, the priest Eleazar and all the leaders of the community came out to welcome them outside the camp.
14 But Moses was angry with the army officers who returned from the war, the leaders of thousands and the leaders of hundreds.
15 “Did you leave all the women alive? “, he asked them.
16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and led Israel to be unfaithful to the Lord in the case of Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord's community.
17 Now kill all the boys. And also kill all the women who have slept with men,
18 but spare all the virgin girls.
19 “All of you who killed someone or touched someone who was dead will stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh day you must purify yourselves and your prisoners.
20 Purify all clothing and also everything made of leather, goat's hair or wood. “
21 Then the priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had gone to war: “This is the requirement of the law that the Lord commanded Moses:
22 Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead
23 and everything that resists the fire, you will have to pass through the fire to purify them, but you must also purify them with the water of purification. And everything that cannot resist fire will have to pass through water.
24 On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean. Then you can enter the camp.”
25 The Lord said to Moses:
26 “You, the priest Eleazar and the heads of the families of the community must count all the people and animals captured.
27 Divide the spoils between the warriors who participated in the battle and the rest of the community.
28 From what the warriors brought from the war, set aside one in every five hundred as tribute to the Lord, whether people, oxen, donkeys, sheep or goats.
29 Take this tribute from the half that was given as their portion and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord's portion.
30 From the half given to the Israelites, choose one out of every fifty, whether people, oxen, donkeys, sheep or goats. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for taking care of the tabernacle of the Lord.”
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
32 The spoils that remained from the prey taken by the soldiers were 675,000 sheep,
33 72,000 head of cattle,
34 61,000 donkeys
35 and 32,000 virgin women.
36 The half given to those who fought in the war was this: 337, 500 sheep,
37 of which the tribute to the Lord was 675;
38 36,000 head of cattle, of which the tribute to the Lord was 72;
39 30, 500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;
40 16,000 people, of whom the tribute to the Lord was 32.
41 Moses gave the tribute to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42 The other half, belonging to the Israelites, Moses separated from that of the combatants;
43 this was half belonging to the community, with 337,500 sheep,
44 36,000 head of cattle,
45 30, 500 donkeys
46 and 16,000 people.
47 From the half belonging to the Israelites, Moses chose one of every fifty, both people and animals, as the Lord had commanded him, and handed them over to the Levites, in charge of taking care of the Lord's tabernacle.
48 Then the officers who were over the army units, the leaders of thousands and the leaders of hundreds came to Moses
49 and they said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and no one is missing.
50 Therefore we brought as an offering to the Lord the articles of gold that each of us took possession of: bracelets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces; to make atonement for us before the Lord.”
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them. All gold jewelry.
52 All the gold given by the leaders of thousands and the leaders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a contribution to the Lord weighed two hundred pounds.
53 Every soldier had taken spoils for himself.
54 Moses and the priest Eleazar received the gold given by the leaders of thousands and the leaders of hundreds and took it to the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Lord to remember the Israelites.
