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Numbers 31 - Good News Bible bible

Numbers 31

²"Punish the Midianites for what they did to the people of Israel. After you have done that, you will die."

³So Moses said to the people, "Get ready for war, so that you can attack Midian and punish them for what they did to the LORD.

⁴From each tribe of Israel send a thousand men to war."

⁵So a thousand men were chosen from each tribe, a total of twelve thousand men ready for battle.

⁶Moses sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took charge of the sacred objects and the trumpets for giving signals.

⁷They attacked Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed all the men,

⁸including the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor.

⁹The people of Israel captured the Midianite women and children, took their cattle and their flocks, plundered all their wealth,

¹⁰and burned all their cities and camps.

¹¹They took all the loot that they had captured, including the prisoners and the animals,

¹²and brought them to Moses and Eleazar and to the community of the people of Israel, who were at the camp on the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho.

¹³Moses, Eleazar, and all the other leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet the army.

¹⁴Moses became angry with the officers, the commanders of battalions and companies, who had returned from the war.

¹⁵He asked them, "Why have you kept all the women alive?

¹⁶Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the LORD. That was what brought the epidemic on the LORD's people.

¹⁷So now kill every boy and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse,

¹⁸but keep alive for yourselves all the girls and all the women who are virgins.

¹⁹Now all of you who have killed anyone or have touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day purify yourselves and the women you have captured.

²⁰You must also purify every piece of clothing and everything made of leather, goats' hair, or wood."

²¹Eleazar the priest said to the men who had returned from battle, "These are the regulations that the LORD has given to Moses.

²²Everything that will not burn, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, is to be purified by passing it through fire. Everything else is to be purified by the water for purification.

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²⁴On the seventh day you must wash your clothes; then you will be ritually clean and will be permitted to enter the camp."

²⁵The LORD said to Moses,

²⁶"You and Eleazar, together with the other leaders of the community, are to count everything that has been captured, including the prisoners and the animals.

²⁷Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community.

²⁸From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the LORD one out of every five hundred prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.

²⁹Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the LORD.

³⁰From the part given to the rest of the people, take one out of every fifty prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the LORD's Tent."

³¹Moses and Eleazar did what the LORD commanded.

³²The following is a list of what was captured by the soldiers, in addition to what they kept for themselves: 675, sheep and goats, 72, cattle, 61, donkeys, and 32, virgins.

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³⁶The half share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the LORD; 36, cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the LORD; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the LORD; and 16, virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the LORD.

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⁴¹So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the LORD, as the LORD had commanded.

⁴²The share of the community was the same as that for the soldiers: 337,500 sheep and goats, 36, cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16, virgins.

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⁴⁷From this share Moses took one out of every fifty prisoners and animals, and as the LORD had commanded, gave them to the Levites who were in charge of the LORD's Tent.

⁴⁸Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses

⁴⁹and reported, "Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing.

⁵⁰So we are bringing the gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces that each of us has taken. We offer them to the LORD as a payment for our lives, so that he will protect us."

⁵¹Moses and Eleazar received the gold, all of which was in the form of ornaments.

⁵²The total contribution of the officers weighed over four hundred pounds.

⁵³Those who were not officers kept the loot they had taken.

⁵⁴So Moses and Eleazar took the gold to the Tent, so that the LORD would protect the people of Israel.