Numbers 31:25–54

Dividing the Spoils

²⁵The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶“You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads^j of the community are to count all the people^k and animals that were captured.^{l 27}Divide^m the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. ²⁸From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lordⁿ one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. ²⁹Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part. ³⁰From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.^o” ³¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³²The plunder remaining from the spoils^p that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, ³³72,000 cattle, ³⁴61,000 donkeys ³⁵and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

³⁶The half share of those who fought in the battle was:

337,500 sheep, ³⁷of which the tribute for the Lord^q was 675;

³⁸36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;

³⁹30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;

⁴⁰16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32.

⁴¹Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part,^r as the Lord commanded Moses.^s

⁴²The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men—⁴³the community’s half—was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵30,500 donkeys ⁴⁶and 16,000 people. ⁴⁷From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.

⁴⁸Then the officers^t who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses ⁴⁹and said to him, “Your servants have counted^u the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.^{v 50}So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves^w before the Lord.”

⁵¹Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. ⁵²All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.^{a 53}Each soldier had taken plunder^x for himself. ⁵⁴Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting^y as a memorial^z for the Israelites before the Lord.