Various Authors Various Authors - The Tanakh

31And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: 2'Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.' 3And Moses spoke unto the people, saying: 'Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian. 4Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.' 5So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7And they warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew every male. 8And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 9And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey. 10And all their cities in the places wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire. 11And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast. 12And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp, unto the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

13And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. 14And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. 15And Moses said unto them: 'Have ye saved all the women alive? 16Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to revolt so as to break faith with the Lord in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the Lord. 17Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18But all the women children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19And encamp ye without the camp seven days; whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives. 20And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood, ye shall purify.'

21And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle: 'This is the statute of the law which the Lord hath commanded Moses: 22Howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sprinkling; and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water. 24And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye may come into the camp.'

25And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: 26'Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation; 27and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation; 28and levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the flocks; 29take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, as a portion set apart for the Lord. 30And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, even of all the cattle, and give them unto the Levites, that keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.' 31And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep, 33and threescore and twelve thousand beeves, 34and threescore and one thousand asses, 35and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not known man by lying with him. 36And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep. 37And the Lord's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen. 38And the beeves were thirty and six thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was threescore and twelve. 39And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred, of which the Lord's tribute was threescore and one. 40And the persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the Lord's tribute was thirty and two persons. 41And Moses gave the tribute, which was set apart for the Lord, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses. 42And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men that warred— 43now the congregation's half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep, 44and thirty and six thousand beeves, 45and thirty thousand and five hundred asses, 46and sixteen thousand persons— 47even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses.

48And the officers that were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses; 49and they said unto Moses: 'Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war that are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us. 50And we have brought the Lord's offering, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and girdles, to make atonement for our souls before the Lord.' 51And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels. 52And all the gold of the gift that they set apart for the Lord, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.— 53For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.— 54And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.

32Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle, 2the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying: 3'Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 4the land which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.' 5And they said: 'If we have found favour in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, bring us not over the Jordan.' 6And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: 'Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye sit here? 7And wherefore will ye turn away the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? 8Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they turned away the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10And the Lord's anger was kindled in that day, and He swore, saying: 11Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed Me; 12save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed the Lord. 13And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander to and fro in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed. 14And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. 15For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and so ye will destroy all this people.'