Numbers 31:25–32:32

Division of the Plunder

25 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 26 “Count up the plunder that was 2taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; 27 and udivide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 28 And levy a 3tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: vone of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; 29 take it from their half, and wgive it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord. 30 And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take xone of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites ywho 4keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.” 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately. 36 And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep; 37 and the Lord’s 5tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was seventy-two. 39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord’s tribute was sixty-one. 40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord’s heave offering to Eleazar the priest, zas the Lord commanded Moses.

42 And from the children of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who fought—43 now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons—47 and afrom the children of Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing. 50 Therefore we have brought an offering for the Lord, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, bto make 6atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments. 52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53 c(The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting das a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.

The Tribes Settling East of the Jordan

32 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of aJazer and the land of bGilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, cNimrah, dHeshbon, Elealeh, eShebam, Nebo, and fBeon, 4 the country gwhich the Lord defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why will you hdiscourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 Thus your fathers did iwhen I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea jto see the land. 9 For kwhen they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 lSo the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, mfrom twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because nthey have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, ofor they have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 So the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them pwander in the wilderness forty years, until qall the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. 14 And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the rfierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 15 For if you sturn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

16 Then they came near to him and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but twe ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 uWe will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has 1received his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, vbecause our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

20 Then wMoses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, 21 and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 22 and xthe land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward yyou may return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel; and zthis land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure ayour sin will find you out. 24 bBuild cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do 2what has proceeded out of your mouth.”

25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 cOur little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; 27 dbut your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

28 So Moses gave command econcerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them: “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30 But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

31 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: “As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan.”