Numbers 29–31

The Feast of Trumpets

29“ ‘Have a holy meeting on the first day of the seventh month, and don’t work on that day. That is the day you blow the trumpets. ²Bring these burnt offerings as a smell pleasing to the Lord: one young bull, one male sheep, and seven male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ³With the bull give a grain offering of six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. With the male sheep offer four quarts, ⁴and with each of the seven lambs offer two quarts. ⁵Offer one male goat for a sin offering to remove your sins so you will belong to God. ⁶These offerings are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings. Their grain offerings and drink offerings must be done as you have been told. These offerings are made by fire to the Lord, and their smell is pleasing to him.

The Day of Cleansing

⁷“ ‘Have a holy meeting on the tenth day of the seventh month. On that day do not eat and do not work. ⁸Bring these burnt offerings as a smell pleasing to the Lord: one young bull, one male sheep, and seven male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ⁹With the bull give a grain offering of six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. With the male sheep it must be four quarts, ¹⁰and with each of the seven lambs it must be two quarts. ¹¹Offer one male goat as a sin offering. This will be in addition to the sin offering which removes your sins, the daily burnt offering with its grain offering, and the drink offerings.

The Feast of Shelters

¹²“ ‘Have a holy meeting on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and do not work on that day. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days. ¹³Bring these burnt offerings, made by fire, as a smell pleasing to the Lord: thirteen young bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ¹⁴With each of the thirteen bulls offer a grain offering of six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. With each of the two male sheep it must be four quarts, ¹⁵and with each of the fourteen lambs it must be two quarts. ¹⁶Offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

¹⁷“ ‘On the second day of this festival give an offering of twelve bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ¹⁸Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. ¹⁹Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

²⁰“ ‘On the third day offer eleven bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ²¹Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. ²²Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

²³“ ‘On the fourth day offer ten bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ²⁴Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. ²⁵Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

²⁶“ ‘On the fifth day offer nine bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ²⁷Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. ²⁸Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

²⁹“ ‘On the sixth day offer eight bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ³⁰Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. ³¹Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

³²“ ‘On the seventh day offer seven bulls, two male sheep, and fourteen male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ³³Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, sheep, and lambs, according to the number required. ³⁴Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

³⁵“ ‘On the eighth day have a closing meeting, and do not work on that day. ³⁶Bring an offering made by fire, a burnt offering, as a smell pleasing to the Lord. Offer one bull, one male sheep, and seven male lambs a year old. They must have nothing wrong with them. ³⁷Bring the grain and drink offerings for the bull, the male sheep, and the lambs, according to the number required. ³⁸Offer one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the daily burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.

³⁹“ ‘At your festivals you should bring these to the Lord: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings. These are in addition to other promised offerings and special gifts you want to give to the Lord.’ ”

⁴⁰Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him.

Rules About Special Promises

30Moses spoke with the leaders of the Israelite tribes. He told them these commands from the Lord.

²“If a man makes a promise to the Lord or says he will do something special, he must keep his promise. He must do what he said. ³If a young woman still living at home makes a promise to the Lord or pledges to do something special, ⁴and if her father hears about the promise or pledge and says nothing, she must do what she promised. She must keep her pledge. ⁵But if her father hears about the promise or pledge and does not allow it, then the promise or pledge does not have to be kept. Her father would not allow it, so the Lord will free her from her promise.

⁶“If a woman makes a pledge or a careless promise and then gets married, ⁷and if her husband hears about it and says nothing, she must keep her promise or the pledge she made. ⁸But if her husband hears about it and does not allow it, he cancels her pledge or the careless promise she made. The Lord will free her from keeping it.

⁹“If a widow or divorced woman makes a promise, she must do whatever she promised.

¹⁰“If a woman makes a promise or pledge while she is married, ¹¹and if her husband hears about it but says nothing and does not stop her, she must keep her promise or pledge. ¹²But if her husband hears about it and cancels it, she does not have to do what she said. Her husband has canceled it, so the Lord will free her from it. ¹³A woman’s husband may make her keep or cancel any promise or pledge she has made. ¹⁴If he says nothing to her about it for several days, she must keep her promises. If he hears about them and says nothing, she must keep her promises. ¹⁵But if he cancels them long after he heard about them, he is responsible if she breaks her promise.”

¹⁶These are commands that the Lord gave to Moses for husbands and wives, and for fathers with daughters living at home.

Israel Attacks the Midianites

31The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ²“Pay back the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites; after that you will die.”

³So Moses said to the people, “Get some men ready for war. The Lord will use them to pay back the Midianites. ⁴Send to war a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” ⁵So twelve thousand men got ready for war, a thousand men from each tribe. ⁶Moses sent those men to war; Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest was with them. He took with him the holy things and the trumpets for giving the alarm. ⁷They fought the Midianites as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every Midianite man. ⁸Among those they killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who were the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with a sword.

⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took all their flocks, herds, and goods. ¹⁰They burned all the Midianite towns where they had settled and all their camps, ¹¹but they took all the people and animals and goods. ¹²Then they brought the captives, the animals, and the goods back to Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the Israelites. Their camp was on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

¹³Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went outside the camp to meet them. ¹⁴Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders over a thousand men, and those over a hundred men, who returned from war.

¹⁵He asked them, “Why did you let the women live? ¹⁶They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and turned the Israelites from the Lord at Peor. Then a terrible sickness struck the Lord’s people. ¹⁷Kill all the Midianite boys, and kill all the Midianite women who have had sexual relations. ¹⁸But save for yourselves the girls who have not had sexual relations with a man.

¹⁹“All you men who killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh days you and your captives must make yourselves clean. ²⁰You must clean all your clothes and anything made of leather, goat hair, or wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to war, “These are the teachings that the Lord gave to Moses: ²²Put any gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead—²³anything that will not burn—into the fire, and then it will be clean. But also purify those things with the cleansing water. Then they will be clean. If something cannot stand the fire, wash it with the water. ²⁴On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may come into the camp.”

Dividing the Goods

²⁵The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶“You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the family groups should take a count of the goods, the men, and the animals that were taken. ²⁷Then divide those possessions between the soldiers who went to war and the rest of the people. ²⁸From the soldiers who…