²⁵The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶“You and Eleazar, together with the other leaders of the community, are to count everything that has been captured, including the prisoners and the animals. ²⁷Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community. ²⁸From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the Lord one out of every five hundred prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. ²⁹Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the Lord. ³⁰From the part given to the rest of the people, take one out of every fifty prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the Lord’s Tent.” ³¹Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded.

^32–35The following is a list of what was captured by the soldiers, in addition to what they kept for themselves: 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins. ^36–41The half-share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the Lord; 36,000 cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the Lord; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the Lord; and 16,000 virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the Lord. ⁴¹So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.

^42–47The share of the community was the same as that for the soldiers: 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins. ⁴⁷From this share Moses took one out of every 50 prisoners and animals, and as the Lord had commanded, gave them to the Levites who were in charge of the Lord’s Tent.

⁴⁸Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses ⁴⁹and reported, “Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing. ⁵⁰So we are bringing the gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces that each of us has taken. We offer them to the Lord as a payment for our lives, so that he will protect us.” ⁵¹Moses and Eleazar received the gold, all of which was in the form of ornaments. ⁵²The total contribution of the officers weighed nearly 200 kilogrammes. ⁵³Those who were not officers kept the loot they had taken. ⁵⁴So Moses and Eleazar took the gold to the Tent, so that the Lord would protect the people of Israel.

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