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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Numbers 31 ISV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/numbers/31.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/numbers/31-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ISV</a> > Numbers 31</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../numbers/30.htm" title="Numbers 30">◄</a> Numbers 31 <a href="../numbers/32.htm" title="Numbers 32">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">International Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/isv/esv/numbers/31.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="heading">War against Midian</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Later, the LORD told Moses, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“Be sure to exact vengeance on behalf of the Israelis from the Midianites, after which you’ll be taken home<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:2 Lit. be gathered">a</a></span> to your people.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>So Moses instructed the people, “Muster your men of war to attack the Midianites and deliver the LORD’S vengeance against Midian. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Send 1,000 men to war from every tribe throughout all of Israel.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>So 1,000 men from every tribe—12,000 from the thousands of Israel—were mustered and equipped for war.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Moses sent 1,000 men from every tribe to fight against them, along with Eleazar’s son Phinehas, in whose hands were the articles of the sanctuary and trumpets to sound battle alarms. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>They fought against the Midianites<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:7 Lit. Midian">b</a></span> just as the LORD had commanded Moses, killing every man. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>They executed the five kings of Midian, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also executed Beor’s son Balaam with a sword. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>After this, the Israelis took captive the Midianite women and children<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:9 Or little ones">c</a></span> and confiscated as spoils of war all their cattle, livestock, and their goods. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>They burned every town where they had lived and incinerated all of their encampments. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>They took all the booty and plunder, including both humans and animals. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Then they brought the captives, booty, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the entire community of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River in Jericho. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.</p> <p class="heading">Commands Concerning War Captives</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But Moses became livid with anger at the officers of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds who had returned from servicing in the battle. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“Did you keep all the women alive?” Moses asked them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>“Look! These women were the same ones who were counseled by Balaam to cause the Israelis to commit a grievous sin against the LORD at Peor. As a result, that plague infected the LORD’s community. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>You are to kill every male child<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:17 Lit. every male among the little ones">d</a></span> and every woman who has had sexual relations with a man.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:17 Lit. every woman who has known a man by lying with him">e</a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>You are to allow the young women who haven’t yet had sexual relations with a man<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:18 Lit. little ones among the women, who had not known a man by lying with him">f</a></span> to live for yourselves.”</p> <p class="heading">Purification after the Battle</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“Now you are to stay outside the camp for seven days, after which any of you who has killed a person<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:19 Lit. soul">g</a></span> or touched someone who was killed may purify yourselves on the third day. You and your captives will be pure on the seventh day. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Furthermore, you are to purify every garment—that is, everything made of leather, goat’s hair, or containing wood.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone to battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that the LORD commanded Moses <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>concerning anything containing gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, lead, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>or anything else that can survive a refiner’s fire: You are to pass it through fire, after which it will be clean. Then it is to be purified with the water of impurity. Everything that cannot survive a refiner’s fire is to be washed in water. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Wash your clothes on the seventh day, after which you will be clean. Then you may enter the camp.”</p> <p class="heading">Offerings from War Booty</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Then the LORD told Moses, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>“Take an inventory of the booty that was taken in the battle,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:26 The Heb. lacks in the battle">h</a></span> both of humans and of animals. Then you, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers of the community <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>are to divide the booty between the warriors who went to war and the rest of the community.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>“After this, you are to exact a tribute for the LORD from the soldiers who went to war, consisting of the tribute earned by one person out of every 500, whether from people, cattle, donkeys, or flocks. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>You are to take half their share and give it to Eleazar the priest as a raised offering to the LORD. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>Then take half the share of the Israelis, one drawn out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, flocks, and from every animal, then give to the descendants of Levi who maintain the service of the LORD’s tent.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>So Moses and Eleazar the priest did what the LORD had commanded Moses. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>The goods confiscated in excess of the war implements<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:32 Lit. booty">i</a></span> that the warriors had gathered included 675,000 sheep, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>72,000 cattle, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>61,000 donkeys, and <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>32,000 women who had not had sexual relations with a man.</p> <p class="heading">God’s Portion of the War Booty</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>Now half of the share of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>so the LORD’s tribute from the sheep totaled 675. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>The cattle numbered 36,000, so the LORD’s tribute totaled 72. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>The donkeys numbered 30,500, so the LORD’s tribute totaled 61. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>The people<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:40 MT as soul of man">j</a></span> numbered 16,000, so the LORD’s tribute totaled 32 people. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-41.htm"><b>41</b></a></span>Then Moses gave the tribute, a raised offering to the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-42.htm"><b>42</b></a></span>From half of the share of the Israelis that Moses had set aside from the soldiers, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-43.htm"><b>43</b></a></span>there were 337,500 sheep for the community, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-44.htm"><b>44</b></a></span>36,000 cattle, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-45.htm"><b>45</b></a></span>30,500 donkeys, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-46.htm"><b>46</b></a></span>and 16,000 people.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-47.htm"><b>47</b></a></span>Moses took a portion drawn from every 50 Israelis, including from both human and animals, and gave them to the descendants of Levi who maintained the LORD’s tent, just as the LORD had commanded him.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:47 Lit. Moses">k</a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-48.htm"><b>48</b></a></span>Then the officers in charge of thousands of soldiers, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds approached Moses <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-49.htm"><b>49</b></a></span>and told him,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:49 Lit. Moses">l</a></span> “Your servants took a count of the soldiers who were under our authority. We didn’t miss a single man. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-50.htm"><b>50</b></a></span>We’ve brought offerings to the LORD from whatever each man found—jewel-encrusted gold, anklets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="31:50 Or our soul">m</a></span> in the LORD’s presence.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-51.htm"><b>51</b></a></span>Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them and everything that was fashioned into jewels. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-52.htm"><b>52</b></a></span>The gold for the raised offering that they brought to the LORD totaled 16,750 shekels, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-53.htm"><b>53</b></a></span>because every soldier had confiscated war booty for his own use. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/numbers/31-54.htm"><b>54</b></a></span>Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the captains of thousands and hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, to serve as a memorial to the Israelis in the LORD’s presence.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="ftn"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn1"><span class="fnb">a</span> 31:2 Lit. <i>be gathered</i><br /><span class="fnb">b</span> 31:7 Lit. <i>Midian</i><br /><span class="fnb">c</span> 31:9 Or <i>little ones</i><br /><span class="fnb">d</span> 31:17 Lit. <i>every male among the little ones</i><br /><span class="fnb">e</span> 31:17 Lit. <i>every woman who has known a man by lying with him</i><br /><span class="fnb">f</span> 31:18 Lit. <i>little ones among the women, who had not known a man by lying with him</i><br /><span class="fnb">g</span> 31:19 Lit. <i>soul</i><br /><span class="fnb">h</span> 31:26 The Heb. lacks <i>in the battle</i><br /><span class="fnb">i</span> 31:32 Lit. <i>booty</i><br /><span class="fnb">j</span> 31:40 MT as <i>soul of man</i><br /><span class="fnb">k</span> 31:47 Lit. <i>Moses</i><br /><span class="fnb">l</span> 31:49 Lit. <i>Moses</i><br /><span class="fnb">m</span> 31:50 Or <i>our soul</i><br /></span><br><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><div align="center"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1<br />Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation<br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../numbers/30.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Numbers 30"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Numbers 30" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../numbers/32.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Numbers 32"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Numbers 32" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/numbers/31-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><div align="center" style="background-color:#F2FAFF"><br /><br /><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>  <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="6710025936" data-ad-format="auto"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 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