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Numbers 31:1-54 — Vengeance on the Midianites

Num.31.1-54

¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²Take vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people. ³So Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm men from among you for the campaign, and let them go against Midian to carry out the LORD's vengeance on Midian. ⁴You shall send to the army a thousand from each tribe, from all the tribes of Israel." ⁵So from the thousands of Israel there were supplied a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who had in his hand the holy vessels and the trumpets for sounding the alarm. ⁷They made war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁸They also killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword as well. ⁹The Israelites took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they plundered all their cattle, all their livestock, and all their goods. ¹⁰They burned with fire all their cities where they lived, and all their encampments. ¹¹They took all the plunder and all that had been taken, both people and animals. ¹²They brought the captives, what had been taken, and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the Israelites, at the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho. ¹³Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴Moses was angry with the officers of the force, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who were coming back from the military campaign. ¹⁵Moses said to them, "Have you kept alive all the women? ¹⁶Look, these were the ones who, at Balaam's word, caused the Israelites to act unfaithfully against the LORD in the matter of Peor , so that the plague came upon the congregation of the LORD. ¹⁷So now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by lying with him. ¹⁸But all the young girls who have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. ¹⁹And you, camp outside the camp seven days. Everyone who has killed a person, and everyone who has touched one who was slain, shall purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. ²⁰You shall also purify every garment, every article of leather, everything made of goats' hair, and every article of wood." ²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of the army who had gone to the war, "This is the statute of the law that the LORD commanded Moses: ²²only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead— ²³Everything that can go through the fire you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Yet it shall also be purified with the water for impurity . And everything that cannot go through the fire you shall pass through the water. ²⁴You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp." ²⁵The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶"Take a count of the captured spoil, both of people and of animals, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation. ²⁷Then divide the spoil between the warriors who went out to the battle and all the congregation. ²⁸And levy a tribute for the LORD from the men of war who went out to the battle: one out of every five hundred, from the people, from the cattle, from the donkeys, and from the flock. ²⁹You shall take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as the LORD's contribution. ³⁰And from the Israelites' half you shall take one out of every fifty, from the people, from the cattle, from the donkeys, from the flock, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD." ³¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses. ³²Now the spoil, the remainder of the plunder that the people of the army had taken, was 675,000 sheep, ³³72,000 cattle, ³⁴61,000 donkeys, ³⁵and 32,000 human persons from the women who had not known a man by lying with him. ³⁶The half, the portion of those who went out in the army, was in number 337,500 sheep, ³⁷and the tribute for the LORD from the sheep was 675. ³⁸The cattle were 36,000, and their tribute for the LORD was 72. ³⁹The donkeys were 30,500, and their tribute for the LORD was 61. ⁴⁰And the human persons were 16,000, and their tribute for the LORD was 32 persons. ⁴¹Moses gave the tribute, the LORD's contribution, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD had commanded Moses. ⁴²As for the Israelites' half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in war— ⁴³the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶and 16,000 human persons. ⁴⁷From the Israelites' half Moses took the one out of every fifty, from the people and from the animals, and gave them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. ⁴⁸Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses. ⁴⁹They said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a count of the men of war under our command, and not one man among us is missing. ⁵⁰So we have brought the LORD's offering, each man what he found: articles of gold, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants, to make atonement for our lives before the LORD." ⁵¹Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, every crafted article. ⁵²And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels . ⁵³The men of the army had each taken plunder for himself. 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.

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4/11/2026

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