Numbers 31:19–54

19 And you, camp outside the camp seven days; all who killed a person and all who touched the slain purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20 You will purify yourselves and every garment and every object of hide and all the work of goats’ hair, and every object of wood.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of the battle who came from the war, “This is the decree of the law that Yahweh commanded Moses. 22 Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead—23 everything that will go through the fire—you will pass through the fire, and it will be clean, and only in waters of impurity will it be purified. Whatever does not go into the fire you will pass through the waters. 24 And you will wash your garments on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you will come into the camp.”

Division of the War-Booty

25 Yahweh said to Moses, saying, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the ⌊families⌋k of the community, ⌊take count⌋l of the war-booty that was captured, both humansm and the domestic animals;n 27 divide the war-booty between those who engaged in the war, who went out to the battle, and all the community. 28 Exact a tribute for Yahweh from the men of the war, those who went out to the battle, one from five hundred persons, and from the cattle and from the male donkeys and from the flock; 29 take from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to Yahweh. 30 From half of the ⌊Israelites⌋,o take one share drawn by lot from the fifty from the humans,p from the cattle, from the male donkeys, from the flock, from all the domestic animals,q and give them to the Levites who keep the responsibilities of the tabernacle of Yahweh.” 31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

32 Thus the war-booty that remained of the plunder that the people of the battle plundered was six hundred and seventy-five thousand flocks of sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand male donkeys, 35 and the life of humankind, from the women who did not ⌊have sexual intercourse with a man⌋,r all the personss were thirty-two thousand.

36 The half of the share that was going out to the battle: the number of the flock of sheep was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred; 37 the tribute to Yahweh from the flock was six hundred and seventy-five; 38 and the cattle were thirty-six thousand; and the tribute to Yahweh was seventy-two. 39 Of the male donkeys there were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute to Yahweh was sixty-one; 40 the humanst were sixteen thousand, and the tribute to Yahweh was thirty-two persons. 41 And Moses gave away the tribute of the contribution of Yahweh to Eleazar the priest, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

42 From the half of the ⌊Israelites⌋,u which Moses divided from the men who were fighting, 43 the half that belonged to the community was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred from the flock, 44 and thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 and thirty thousand five hundred male donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand humans.v 47 From the half that belonged to the ⌊Israelites⌋,w Moses took one share drawn by lot out of every fifty humansx and domestic animals, and he gave them to the Levites, who keep the responsibility of the tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

48 Then the leaders of the thousands of the army, the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, approached Moses, 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have ⌊taken count⌋y of the men of war who were ⌊in our charge⌋,z and no man is missing from us. 50 So we brought the offering of Yahweh, what each man found, objects of gold, bangles,a bracelets,b rings,c earrings,d and female ornaments,e to make atonement for ourselves ⌊before⌋f Yahweh.” 51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all objects of work. 52 All the gold of the contribution that they raised up to Yahweh, from the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53 The men of battle plundered each for himself. 54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of the thousands and hundreds, and they brought it to the tent of the assembly as a memorial for the ⌊Israelites⌋g before Yahweh.