| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1The LORD spoke to Moses: | 1Then the LORD said to Moses, |
| 2"Exact vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites--after that you will be gathered to your people." | 2“On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.” |
| 3So Moses spoke to the people: "Arm men from among you for the war, to attack the Midianites and to execute the LORD's vengeance on Midian. | 3So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the LORD’s war of revenge against Midian. |
| 4You must send to the battle a thousand men from every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel." | 4From each tribe of Israel, send 1,000 men into battle.” |
| 5So a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for battle in all, were provided out of the thousands of Israel. | 5So they chose 1,000 men from each tribe of Israel, a total of 12,000 men armed for battle. |
| 6So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge of the holy articles and the signal trumpets. | 6Then Moses sent them out, 1,000 men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge. |
| 7They fought against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses, and they killed every male. | 7They attacked Midian as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. |
| 8They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain--Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba--five Midianite kings. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. | 8All five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. |
| 9The Israelites took the women of Midian captives along with their little ones, and took all their herds, all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder. | 9Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. |
| 10They burned all their towns where they lived and all their encampments. | 10They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. |
| 11They took all the plunder and all the spoils, both people and animals. | 11After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, |
| 12They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the plains of Moab, along the Jordan River across from Jericho. | 12they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. |
| 13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp. | 13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. |
| 14But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war. | 14But Moses was furious with all the generals and captains who had returned from the battle. |
| 15Moses said to them, "Have you allowed all the women to live? | 15“Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded. |
| 16Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the LORD in the matter of Peor--which resulted in the plague among the community of the LORD! | 16“These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD’s people. |
| 17Now therefore kill every boy, and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man. | 17So kill all the boys and all the women who have had intercourse with a man. |
| 18But all the young women who have not had sexual intercourse with a man will be yours. | 18Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves. |
| 19"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. | 19And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. |
| 20You must purify each garment and everything that is made of skin, everything made of goat's hair, and everything made of wood." | 20Purify all your clothing, too, and everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood.” |
| 21Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone into the battle, "This is the ordinance of the law that the LORD commanded Moses: | 21Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, “The LORD has given Moses this legal requirement: |
| 22Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, | 22Anything made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead— |
| 23everything that may stand the fire, you are to pass through the fire, and it will be ceremonially clean, but it must still be purified with the water of purification. Anything that cannot withstand the fire you must pass through the water. | 23that is, all metals that do not burn—must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. These metal objects must then be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone. |
| 24You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be ceremonially clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.'" | 24On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified. Then you may return to the camp.” Division of the Plunder |
| 25Then the LORD spoke to Moses: | 25And the LORD said to Moses, |
| 26"You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals. | 26“You and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of each tribe are to make a list of all the plunder taken in the battle, including the people and animals. |
| 27Divide 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. | 27Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people. |
| 28"You must exact a tribute for the LORD from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of five hundred, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep. | 28From the army’s portion, first give the LORD his share of the plunder—one of every 500 of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. |
| 29You are to take it from their half-share and give it to Eleazar the priest for a raised offering to the LORD. | 29Give this share of the army’s half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD. |
| 30From 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 LORD's tabernacle." | 30From the half that belongs to the people of Israel, take one of every fifty of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and other animals. Give this share to the Levites, who are in charge of maintaining the LORD’s Tabernacle.” |
| 31So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. | 31So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. |
| 32The spoil that remained of the plunder which the fighting men had gathered was 675,000 sheep, | 32The plunder remaining from everything the fighting men had taken totaled 675,000 sheep and goats, |
| 3372,000 cattle, | 3372,000 cattle, |
| 3461,000 donkeys, | 3461,000 donkeys, |
| 35and 32,000 young women who had never had sexual intercourse with a man. | 35and 32,000 virgin girls. |
| 36The half-portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep; | 36Half of the plunder was given to the fighting men. It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, |
| 37the LORD's tribute from the sheep was 675. | 37of which 675 were the LORD’s share; |
| 38The cattle numbered 36,000; the LORD's tribute was 72. | 3836,000 cattle, of which 72 were the LORD’s share; |
| 39The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD's tribute was 61. | 3930,500 donkeys, of which 61 were the LORD’s share; |
| 40The people were 16,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 32 people. | 40and 16,000 virgin girls, of whom 32 were the LORD’s share. |
| 41So Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD's raised offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. | 41Moses gave all the LORD’s share to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had directed him. |
| 42From the Israelites' half-share that Moses had separated from the fighting men, | 42Half of the plunder belonged to the people of Israel, and Moses separated it from the half belonging to the fighting men. |
| 43there were 337,500 sheep from the portion belonging to the community, | 43It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, |
| 4436,000 cattle, | 4436,000 cattle, |
| 4530,500 donkeys, | 4530,500 donkeys, |
| 46and 16,000 people. | 46and 16,000 virgin girls. |
| 47From 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 Lord's tabernacle, just as the LORD commanded Moses. | 47From the half-share given to the people, Moses took one of every fifty prisoners and animals and gave them to the Levites, who maintained the LORD’s Tabernacle. All this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses. |
| 48Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders over thousands and the commanders over hundreds, approached Moses | 48Then all the generals and captains came to Moses |
| 49and said to him, "Your servants have taken a count of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority, and not one is missing. | 49and said, “We, your servants, have accounted for all the men who went out to battle under our command; not one of us is missing! |
| 50So we have brought as an offering for the LORD what each man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD." | 50So we are presenting the items of gold we captured as an offering to the LORD from our share of the plunder—armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This will purify our lives before the LORD and make us right with him. ” |
| 51Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all of it in the form of ornaments. | 51So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from all the military commanders—all kinds of jewelry and crafted objects. |
| 52All the gold of the offering they offered up to the LORD from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds weighed 16,750 shekels. | 52In all, the gold that the generals and captains presented as a gift to the LORD weighed about 420 pounds. |
| 53Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. | 53All the fighting men had taken some of the plunder for themselves. |
| 54So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD. | 54So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gifts from the generals and captains and brought the gold to the Tabernacle as a reminder to the LORD that the people of Israel belong to him. |
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