Numbers 31–33

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 went to war, take a tax for the Lord of one item out of every five hundred. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. ²⁹Take it from the soldiers’ half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s share. ³⁰And from the people’s half, take one item out of every fifty. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals. Give that to the Levites, who take care of the Lord’s Holy Tent.” ³¹So Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³²There remained from what the soldiers had taken 675,000 sheep, ³³72,000 cattle, ³⁴61,000 donkeys, ³⁵and 32,000 women who had not had sexual relations with a man. ³⁶The soldiers who went to war got 337,000 sheep, ³⁷and they gave 675 of them to the Lord. ³⁸They got 36,000 cattle, and they gave 72 of them to the Lord. ³⁹They got 30,500 donkeys, and they gave 61 of them to the Lord. ⁴⁰They got 16,000 people, and they gave 32 of them to the Lord. ⁴¹Moses gave the Lord’s share to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded him.

⁴²Moses separated the people’s half from the soldiers’ half. ⁴³The people got 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶and 16,000 people. ⁴⁷From the people’s half Moses took one item out of every fifty for the Lord. This included the animals and the people. Then he gave them to the Levites, who took care of the Lord’s Holy Tent. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴⁸Then the officers of the army, the commanders of a thousand men and commanders of a hundred men, came to Moses. ⁴⁹They told Moses, “We, your servants, have counted our soldiers under our command, and not one of them is missing. ⁵⁰So we have brought the Lord a gift of the gold things that each of us found: arm bands, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces. These are to remove our sins so we will belong to the Lord.”

⁵¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, which had been made into all kinds of objects. ⁵²The commanders of a thousand men and the commanders of a hundred men gave the Lord the gold, and all of it together weighed about 420 pounds; ⁵³each soldier had taken something for himself. ⁵⁴Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of a thousand men and the commanders of a hundred men. Then they put it in the Meeting Tent as a memorial before the Lord for the people of Israel.

The Tribes East of the Jordan

32The people of Reuben and Gad had large flocks and herds. When they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were good for the animals, ²they came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the people. ^3–4They said, “We, your servants, have flocks and herds. The Lord has captured for the Israelites a land that is good for animals—the land around Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. ⁵If it pleases you, we would like this land to be given to us. Don’t make us cross the Jordan River.”

⁶Moses told the people of Gad and Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you stay behind? ⁷You will discourage the Israelites from going over to the land the Lord has given them. ⁸Your ancestors did the same thing. I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look at the land. ⁹They went as far as the Valley of Eshcol, and when they saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. ¹⁰The Lord became very angry that day and made this promise: ¹¹‘None of the people who came from Egypt and who are twenty years old or older will see the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These people have not followed me completely. ¹²Only Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun followed the Lord completely.’

¹³“The Lord was angry with Israel, so he made them wander in the desert for forty years. Finally all the people who had sinned against the Lord died, ¹⁴and now you are acting just like your ancestors! You sinful people are making the Lord even more angry with Israel. ¹⁵If you quit following him, it will add to their stay in the desert, and you will destroy all these people.”

¹⁶Then the Reubenites and Gadites came up to Moses and said, “We will build pens for our animals and cities for our children here. ¹⁷Then our children will be in strong, walled cities, safe from the people who live in this land. Then we will prepare for war. We will help the other Israelites get their land, ¹⁸and we will not return home until every Israelite has received his land. ¹⁹We won’t take any of the land west of the Jordan River; our part of the land is east of the Jordan.”

²⁰So Moses told them, “You must do these things. You must go before the Lord into battle ²¹and cross the Jordan River armed, until the Lord forces out the enemy. ²²After the Lord helps us take the land, you may return home. You will have done your duty to the Lord and Israel, and you may have this land as your own.

²³“But if you don’t do these things, you will be sinning against the Lord; know for sure that you will be punished for your sin. ²⁴Build cities for your children and pens for your animals, but then you must do what you promised.”

²⁵The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “We are your servants, and we will do what you, our master, command. ²⁶Our children, wives, and all our cattle will stay in the cities of Gilead, ²⁷but we, your servants, will prepare for battle. We will go over and fight for the Lord, as you, our master, have said.”

²⁸So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the leaders of the tribes of Israel. ²⁹Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites prepare for battle and cross the Jordan River with you, to go before the Lord and help you take the land, give them the land of Gilead for their own. ³⁰But if they do not go over armed, they will not receive it; their land will be in Canaan with you.”

³¹The Gadites and Reubenites answered, “We are your servants, and we will do as the Lord said. ³²We will cross over into Canaan and go before the Lord ready for battle. But our land will be east of the Jordan River.”

³³So Moses gave that land to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh. (Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) That land had been the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, as well as all the cities and the land around them.

³⁴The Gadites rebuilt the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran. These were strong, walled cities. And they built sheep pens.

³⁷The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸Nebo, Baal Meon, and Sibmah. They renamed Nebo and Baal Meon when they rebuilt them.

³⁹The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went and captured Gilead and forced out the Amorites who were there. ⁴⁰So Moses gave Gilead to the family of Makir son of Manasseh, and they settled there. ⁴¹Jair son of Manasseh went out and captured the small towns there, and he called them the Towns of Jair. ⁴²Nobah went and captured Kenath and the small towns around it; then he named it Nobah after himself.…