31:1¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 31:2 “Exact vengeance² for the Israelites on the Midianites³—after that you will be gathered to your people.⁴

31:3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm⁵ men from among you for the war, that they may go against the Midianites, and to execute⁶ the vengeance of the LORD on Midian. 31:4 You must send to the battle a thousand men from every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel.⁷ 31:5 So there were provided out of the thousands of Israel a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

31:6 So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge⁸ of the holy instruments⁹ and the signal trumpets in his hand. 31:7 And they fought against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses, and they slew every male.¹⁰ 31:8 And they slew the kings of Midian in addition to those slain, namely Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five Midianite kings.¹¹ And Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword.¹²

31:9 And the Israelites took the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took all their herds, and all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder. 31:10 And they burnt all their towns¹³ that they had inhabited, and all their encampments with fire. 31:11 And they took all the plunder and all the booty, both people and animals. 31:12 And they brought the captives and the booty and the plunder to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the steppes of Moab, along the Jordan across from Jericho.¹⁴ 31:13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.

31:14 And Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 31:15 And Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live?¹⁵ 31:16 Look, these people, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the LORD in the matter of Peor—and there was the plague among the community of the LORD. 31:17 Now therefore kill every boy,¹⁶ and kill every woman who has had intercourse with a man.¹⁷ 31:18 But all the young women¹⁸ who have not had intercourse with a man¹⁹ will be yours.²⁰

31:19 And any of you who has killed anyone, or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day. 31:20 And you must purify each garment and everything that is made of skin, everything made of goat’s hair, and everything made of wood.”²¹

31:21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone into the battle, “This is the ordinance of the Law which the LORD commanded Moses: 31:22 ‘Only the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 31:23 everything that may stand the fire, you are to pass through the fire,²² and it will be clean; but then it must be purified with the waters of impurity. Anything that cannot withstand the fire you must pass through the water. 31:24 And you must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”

31:25 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 31:26 “You and Eleazar the priests, and all the family heads of the community, take the sum²³ of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals. 31:27 And divide the plunder into two parts, one for those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and the other for all the community.

31:28 And you must exact²⁴ a tribute for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle: one life out of five hundred, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and from the sheep. 31:29 You are to take it from their half-share, and give it to Eleazar the priest for a raised offering to the LORD. 31:30 And from the Israelites’ half-share you are to take one portion out of fifty, of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep—from every kind of animal, and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

31:31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. 31:32 And the booty that remained of the plunder which the men of war had plundered, was 675,000 sheep, 31:33 and 72,000 cattle, 31:34 and 61,000 donkeys, 31:35 and 32,000 women that had never had intercourse with a man.²⁵

31:36 And the half-portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep. 31:37 And the LORD’s tribute from the sheep was 675. 31:38 And the cattle numbered²⁶ 36,000; and the LORD’s tribute was 72. 31:39 And the donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD’s tribute was 61. 31:40 And the people were 16,000; of which the LORD’s tribute was 32 people.

31:41 So Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’s raised offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

31:42 And from the Israelites’ half-share which Moses had separated from the warriors, 31:43 there was from the portion of the community from the sheep 337,500, 31:44 and 36,000 cattle, 31:45 and 30,500 donkeys, 31:46 and 16,000 people.

31:47 From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the tabernacle, as the LORD commanded Moses.

31:48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, drew near to Moses, 31:49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count²⁷ of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority,²⁸ and not one is missing. 31:50 So we have brought for an offering for the LORD what each man found—gold ornaments, the armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”²⁹ 31:51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all of it fashioned into ornaments. 31:52 And all the gold of the offering that they had offered up to the LORD from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds weighed 16,750 shekels.³⁰ 31:53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. 31:54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial³¹ for the Israelites before the LORD.