Numbers 31-32New King James Version (NKJV)
Vengeance on the Midianites
31 And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying: 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the
children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
3 So Moses spoke to the people,
saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites
to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. 4 A
thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the
war.”
5 So there were recruited from the
divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve
thousand armed for war. 6 Then Moses sent them to
the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war
with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the
signal trumpets in his hand. 7 And they warred
against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they
killed all the males. 8 They killed the kings of
Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur,
Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also
killed with the sword.
9 And the children of Israel took the
women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their
cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. 10 They
also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their
forts. 11 And they took all the spoil and all the
booty—of man and beast.
Return from the War
12 Then they brought the captives,
the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the
congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by
the Jordan, across from Jericho. 13 And
Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to
meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moses was angry
with the officers of the army, with the captains over
thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
15 And Moses said to them: “Have you
kept all the women alive? 16 Look, these women caused
the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against
the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the
congregation of the Lord. 17 Now therefore,
kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man
intimately. 18 But keep alive for yourselves all
the young girls who have not known a man intimately. 19 And
as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person,
and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the
third day and on the seventh day. 20 Purify every
garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and
everything made of wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to
the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the
ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses: 22 Only
the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything
that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean;
and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot
endure fire you shall put through water. 24 And you
shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may
come into the camp.”
Division of the Plunder
25 Now the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: 26 “Count up the plunder that was
taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the
congregation; 27 and divide 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 tribute for
the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five
hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; 29 take it from
their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave
offering to the Lord. 30 And from the children
of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the
cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to
the Levites who keep 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 tribute
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, as 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
from 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, to make atonement 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 (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 as 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
Jazer and the land of Gilead, 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, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the
country which 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 discourage the heart of
the children of Israel from going over into the land which
the Lord has given them? 8 Thus your
fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 For
when 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 So
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, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they
have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 So
the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in
the wilderness forty years, until all 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 fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 15 For
if you turn 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 we 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 We
will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has
received his inheritance. 19 For we will not
inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our
inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”
20 Then Moses 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 the land is subdued before
the Lord, then afterward you may return and be blameless before
the Lord and before Israel; and this 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 your sin
will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little
ones and folds for your sheep, and do what 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 Our little ones, our wives, our
flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; 27 but
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 concerning
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.”
33 So Moses gave to the children of
Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of
Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of
Bashan, the land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the
surrounding country. 34 And the children of Gad
built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer, 35 Atroth and
Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah and
Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 And
the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim, 38 Nebo
and Baal Meon (their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they
gave other names to the cities which they built.
39 And the children of Machir the son
of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in
it. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of
Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. 41 Also Jair the son
of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havoth Jair.[a] 42 Then
Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his
own name.
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