1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his hand.
7They did battle against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male.
8v 16; Josh 13.21, 22They killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian, in addition to others who were slain by them, and they also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
9The Israelites took the women of Midian and their little ones captive, and they plundered all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.
10All their towns where they had settled, and all their encampments, they burned,
11Deut 20.14but they took all the spoil and all the plunder, both people and animals.
12Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the Israelites, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Return from the War13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.
14Moses became angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.
15Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live?
16Num 24.14; 25.1–9; 2 Pet 2.15; Rev 2.14These women here, on Balaam’s advice, made the Israelites act treacherously against the Lord in the affair of Peor, so that the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.
17Judg 21.11Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by sleeping with him.
18But all the young girls who have not known a man by sleeping with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19Camp outside the camp seven days, whoever of you has killed any person or touched a corpse; purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third and on the seventh day.
20You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”
21Eleazar the priest said to the troops who had gone to battle, “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses:
22gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—
23Num 19.9, 17everything that can withstand fire, you shall pass through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for purification, and whatever cannot withstand fire, you shall pass through the water.
24Lev 11.25You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; afterward you may come into the camp.”
Disposition of Captives and Plunder25The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
26“You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the ancestral houses of the congregation make an inventory of the plunder captured, both human and animal.
27Divide the plunder into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.
28Num 18.21–30From the share of the warriors who went out to battle, set aside as tribute for the Lord one item out of every five hundred, whether persons, oxen, donkeys, or sheep.
29Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
30Num 3.7, 25; 18.3, 4But from the Israelites’ half you shall take one out of every fifty, whether persons, oxen, donkeys, or sheep—all the animals—and give them to the Levites, who perform the duties of the tabernacle of the Lord.”
31Then Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
32 Gen 49.27; Ex 15.9 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the troops had taken totaled six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
33seventy-two thousand oxen,
34sixty-one thousand donkeys,
35and thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known a man by sleeping with him.
36The half-share, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
37vv 38, 41and the Lord’s tribute of sheep was six hundred seventy-five.
38The oxen were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was seventy-two.
39The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord’s tribute was sixty-one.
40The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was thirty-two persons.
41vv 21, 28; Num 5.9Moses gave the tribute, the offering for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42As for the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from that of the troops,
43the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44thirty-six thousand oxen,
45thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46and sixteen thousand persons.
47v 30From the Israelites’ half Moses took one of every fifty, both of persons and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who perform the duties of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
48Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, approached Moses
49and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the warriors who are under our command, and not one of us is missing.
50Ex 30.12, 16And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what each of us found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
51Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all in the form of crafted articles.
52And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.
53v 32; Deut 20.14(The troops had all taken plunder for themselves.)
54Ex 30.16So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.
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