Numbers 31

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 2 “Take vengeance for the wrongs done to the children of Israel on the Midianites; and after that you will be gathered to your people.” 3 And Moses spoke to the people. He said, 3 “Arm some of your men and draw them up before the Lord against Midian, to bring the Lord's vengeance on Midian. 4 Send a thousand from each tribe, from all the tribes of the children of Israel, to be drawn up for battle.” 5 And out of the thousands of Israel they counted off a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them out, a thousand from every tribe with their forces, and Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest with them; and the holy vessels and the signal trumpets were in their hands. 7 And they drew up against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. 8 And they killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their dead — Evi and Zur and Rekem and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; and they killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword along with the rest of their dead. 9 And they took as plunder the women of Midian, and their households, and their cattle, and all their possessions; and they stripped their forces. 10 And they burned all their cities in the places where they lived, and burned their settlements with fire. 11 And they took all their plunder and all their spoil, both people and animals, 12 and brought the prisoners and the spoil and the plunder to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to all the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which is by the Jordan across from Jericho.

13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the gathering went out of the camp to meet them. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds who came back from the line of battle. 15 And Moses said to them, 15 “Why have you kept every female alive? 16 These are the very ones who, on Balaam's word, were the cause of the children of Israel turning away and thinking nothing of the word of the Lord, over the business at Peor — and there was a plague in the gathering of the Lord. [a] 17 So now kill every male among the plunder, and kill every woman who has known a man. 18 But all the women among the prisoners who have not known a man — keep them alive for yourselves. 19 And you are to camp outside the main camp for seven days. Everyone who has killed anyone, and everyone who touches a dead body, is to be cleansed on the third day and on the seventh day — you and your prisoners. 20 And you are to cleanse every garment, and every leather article, and everything made of goat hair, and every wooden vessel.”

21 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of the army who had come back from the line of battle, 21 “This is the ruling of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: 22 the gold and the silver and the bronze and the iron and the lead and the tin — 23 everything that can go through fire is to be put through it, and then it will be clean; but it is still to be cleansed with the water of cleansing. And everything that cannot go through fire is to be put through water. 24 And on the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean; and after that you may come into the camp.”

25 And the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 26 “Take the total of the plunder that was taken, both people and animals — you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the families of the gathering. 27 And you are to divide the plunder between the fighting men who went out to battle and the whole gathering. 28 And you are to take a due for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one out of every five hundred, from the people and from the cattle, from the oxen and from the sheep and from the goats. 29 And from their half you are to take it, and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord's firstfruits. 30 And from the half belonging to the children of Israel you are to take one out of every fifty, from the people and from the oxen and from the sheep and from the donkeys and from all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep the charge of the tent of the Lord.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

32 And what was left of the plunder the fighting men had taken was: sheep, 675,000; 33 and oxen, 72,000; 34 and donkeys, 61,000; 35 and women who had not known a man, 32,000 souls in all. 36 And the half that was the share of those who went out to war came, from the number of the sheep, to 337,500; 37 and the due to the Lord from the sheep was 675. 38 And the oxen were 36,000, and the due to the Lord 72. 39 And the donkeys were 30,500, and the due to the Lord 61. 40 And the people were 16,000, and the due of them to the Lord 32 souls. [b] 41 And Moses gave the due to the Lord, the portion set apart for God, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

42 And from the half belonging to the children of Israel, which Moses had divided off from the men of war — 43 the half from the sheep belonging to the gathering was 337,500; 44 and the oxen, 36,000; 45 donkeys, 30,500; 46 and people, 16,000. 47 And Moses took from the half belonging to the children of Israel the fiftieth part, of people and of cattle, and gave them to the Levites who keep the charge of the tent of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

48 And all those who had been set over the thousands of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds, came to Moses, 49 and said to Moses, 49 “Your servants have taken the count of the fighting men who were with us, and not one of them is missing. 50 And we have brought our gift to the Lord — every man what he found of gold: an armlet, or a chain, or a ring, or a bracelet, or a hair clasp — to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, every worked piece. 52 And all the worked gold, the offering they brought to the Lord, came to about four hundred and twenty pounds, from the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds. [c] 53 For the fighting men had each taken plunder for himself. 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds and brought the vessels into the tent of witness, as a reminder of the children of Israel before the Lord.