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.

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