Numbers 31–33

The Lord Punishes the People of Midian

31The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²“Pay the people of Midian back for what they did to the Israelites. After that, you will join the members of your family who have already died.”

³So Moses said to the people, “Prepare some of your men for battle. They must go to war against Midian. They will carry out the Lord’s plan to punish Midian. ⁴Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel into battle.” ⁵So Moses prepared 12,000 men for battle. There were 1,000 from each tribe. They came from the families of Israel.

⁶Moses sent them into battle. He sent 1,000 from each tribe. The priest Phinehas went along with them. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar. Phinehas took some articles from the sacred tent with him. He also took the trumpets. The trumpet blasts would tell the people what to do and when to do it.

⁷They fought against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. They killed every man. ⁸Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba were among the men they killed. Those men were the five kings of Midian. The people of Israel also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with a sword.

⁹They captured the women and children of Midian. They took for themselves all of the herds, flocks and goods.

¹⁰They burned up all of the towns where the people of Midian had settled. They also burned up all of their camps.

¹¹They carried off everything they had taken. That included the people and the animals. ¹²They brought back to Israel’s camp the prisoners and everything else they had taken. They took them to Moses and to the priest Eleazar. They brought them to the whole community. Israel was camped on the flatlands of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho.

¹³Moses and the priest Eleazar went to meet them outside the camp. So did all of the leaders of the community. ¹⁴Moses was angry with the officers of the army who had returned from the battle. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds.

¹⁵“Have you let all of the women remain alive?” Moses asked them. ¹⁶“The women followed Balaam’s advice. They caused the people of Israel to turn away from the Lord. The people worshiped the god Baal that was worshiped at Peor. So a plague struck them. ¹⁷Kill all of the boys. And kill every woman who has made love to a man. ¹⁸But save for yourselves every woman who has never made love to a man.

¹⁹“All of you who have killed anyone must stay outside the camp for seven days. And all of you who have touched anyone who was killed must do the same thing. On the third and seventh days you must make yourselves pure. You must also make your prisoners pure. ²⁰Make all of your clothes pure and clean. Everything that is made out of leather, goat hair or wood must be made pure.”

²¹Then the priest Eleazar spoke to the soldiers who had gone into battle. He said, “Here is what the law the Lord gave Moses requires. ²²All of your gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead ²³must be put through fire. So must everything else that doesn’t burn up. Then those things will be ‘clean.’ But they must also be made pure with the special water. In fact, everything that won’t burn up must be put through that water. ²⁴On the seventh day wash your clothes. And you will be ‘clean.’ Then you can come into the camp.”

The People Divide Up What They Had Taken

²⁵The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁶“Here is what you and the priest Eleazar and the family heads of the community must do. You must count all of the people and animals you took. ²⁷Divide up some of what you took with the soldiers who fought in the battle. Divide up the rest with the others in the community.

²⁸“Set apart a gift for me. Take something from the soldiers who fought in the battle. Set apart one out of every 500 people, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats. ²⁹Take my gift from the soldiers’ half. Give it to the priest Eleazar. It is my share.

³⁰“Also take something from the half that belongs to the people of Israel. Choose one out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites. They are accountable for taking care of my holy tent.”

³¹So Moses and the priest Eleazar did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³²What the soldiers took included 675,000 sheep. ³³There were also 72,000 cattle ³⁴and 61,000 donkeys. ³⁵And there were 32,000 women who had never made love to a man.

³⁶Here is the half that belonged to those who had fought in the battle.

There were 337,500 sheep. ³⁷From among them, the Lord’s gift was 675.

³⁸There were 36,000 cattle. From among them, the Lord’s gift was 72.

³⁹There were 30,500 donkeys. From among them, the Lord’s gift was 61.

⁴⁰There were 16,000 women. From among them, the Lord’s gift was 32.

⁴¹Moses gave the gift to the priest Eleazar. It was the Lord’s share. Moses did just as the Lord had commanded him.

⁴²The other half belonged to the people of Israel. Moses set it apart from what belonged to the fighting men. ⁴³The community’s half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵30,500 donkeys ⁴⁶and 16,000 women. ⁴⁷Moses chose one out of every 50 people and animals. He gave them to the Levites. They were accountable for taking care of the Lord’s holy tent. Moses did just as the Lord had commanded him.

⁴⁸Then the army officers went to Moses. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds. ⁴⁹All of them said to Moses, “We have counted the soldiers under our command. Not a single one is missing.

⁵⁰“So we’ve brought an offering to the Lord. We’ve brought the gold articles each of us took in the battle. We’ve also brought armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings and necklaces. We’ve brought them to pay for our sin in the sight of the Lord.”

⁵¹Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted the beautiful gold articles from the army officers. ⁵²The gold that was received from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds weighed 420 pounds. Moses and Eleazar offered all of it as a gift to the Lord. ⁵³Each soldier had taken things from the battle for himself. ⁵⁴Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted the gold from all of the commanders. They brought it into the Tent of Meeting. It reminded the Lord of the people of Israel.

The Tribes on the East Side of the Jordan River

32The tribes of Reuben and Gad had very large herds and flocks. They looked at the lands of Jazer and Gilead. They saw that those lands were just right for livestock.

²So they came to Moses and the priest Eleazar. They also came to the leaders of the community. They said, ³“We have seen the cities of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah and Heshbon. We’ve seen Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon. ⁴All of them are in the land the Lord has brought under Israel’s control. This land is just right for livestock. And we have livestock.

⁵“We hope you are pleased with us,” they continued. “If you are, please give us this land. Then it will belong to us. But don’t make us go across the Jordan River.”

⁶Moses spoke to the people of Gad and Reuben. He said, “Should the rest of us go to war while you stay here? ⁷The Lord has given the land of Canaan to the people of Israel. So why would you want to keep them from going over into it?

⁸“That’s what your fathers did. I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to check out the land. ⁹They went up to the Valley of Eshcol and looked at the land. Then they talked the people of Israel out of entering the land the Lord had given them.

¹⁰“The Lord’s anger was stirred up that day. So he took an oath and made a promise. He said, ¹¹‘Not one of the men who is 20 years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land. They have not followed me with their whole heart. I took an oath and promised to give the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

¹²“ ‘But not one of these men will see it except Caleb and Joshua. Caleb is the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite. And Joshua is the son of Nun. They will see the land. They followed me with their whole heart.’

¹³“The Lord’s anger burned against Israel. He made them wander around in the desert for 40 years. They wandered until all of the people who had done evil in his sight had died.

¹⁴“Now here you are, you bunch of sinners! You have taken the place of your fathers. And you are making the Lord even more angry with Israel. ¹⁵What if you turn away from following him? Then he’ll leave all of these people in the desert again. And it will be your fault when they are destroyed.”

¹⁶Then they came up to Moses. They said, “We would like to build pens here for our livestock. We would also like to build cities for our women and children.

¹⁷“But we’re ready to prepare ourselves for battle. We’re even ready to go ahead of the people of Israel. We’ll go with them until we’ve brought them to their place. While we’re gone, our women and children will live in cities that have high walls around them. That will keep them safe from the people who are living in this land.

¹⁸“We won’t return to our homes until all of the people of Israel have received their share of the land.

¹⁹“We won’t receive any share with them on the west side of the Jordan River. We’ve already received our share here on the east side.”

²⁰Then Moses said to them, “Do what you have promised to do. Prepare yourselves to fight for the Lord. ²¹Prepare yourselves and go across the Jordan River. Fight for the Lord until he has driven out his enemies in front of him.

²²“When the land is under the Lord’s control, you can come back here. Your duty to the Lord and Israel will be over. Then the Lord will give you this land as your own.

²³“But what if you fail to do your duty? Then you will be sinning against the Lord. And you can be sure that your sin will be discovered. It will be brought out into the open.

²⁴“So build up cities for your women and children. Make sheep pens for your flocks. But do what you have promised to do.”

²⁵The people of Gad and Reuben spoke to Moses. They said, “We will do just as you command. ²⁶Our children and wives will remain here in the cities of Gilead. So will our…