Numbers 31

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,	1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 'Exact the ful vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites. Afterwards you will be gathered to yourpeople.'	2 Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.
3 Moses said to the people, 'Some of you are to take up arms for Yahweh's campaign against Midian,to carry out the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian.	3 And Moses forthwith said: Arm of you men to fight, who may take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.
4 You will put a thousand men in the field from each of the tribes of Israel.'	4 Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to the war.
5 In this way Israel's thousands provided twelve thousand men equipped for war, one thousand fromeach tribe:	5 And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve thousand men well appointed for battle.
6 Moses put them in the field, one thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar,to go with them carrying the sacred objects and the trumpets for the battle cry.	6 And Moses sent them with Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest, and he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.
7 They made war on Midian, as Yahweh had ordered Moses, and put every male to death.	7 And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew all the men.
8 What is more, they kil ed the kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, the five Midianite kings;they also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword.	8 And their kings Evi, and Recem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, five princes of the nation: Balaam also the son of Beer they killed with the sword.
9 The Israelites took the Midianite women and their little ones captive and carried off al their cattle, altheir flocks and al their goods as booty.	9 And they took their women, and their children captives, and all their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they plundered:
10 They set fire to the towns where they lived and to al their encampments.	10 And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they burned.
11 Then, taking al their booty, everything they had captured, human and animal,	11 And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken both of men and of beasts.
12 they brought the captives, spoil and booty to Moses, the priest Eleazar and the whole community ofIsraelites at the camp on the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan by Jericho.	12 And they brought them to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the children of Israel. But the rest of the things for use they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan over against Jericho.
13 Moses, the priest Eleazar and al the leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet them.	13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the synagogue went forth to meet them without the camp.
14 Moses was enraged with the officers of the army, the commanders of the thousands andcommanders of the hundreds, who had come back from this military expedition.	14 And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,
15 He said, 'Why have you spared the life of al the women?	15 Said: Why have you saved the women?
16 They were the very ones who, on Balaam's advice, caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to Yahwehin the affair at Peor: hence the plague which struck Yahweh's community.	16 Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel by the counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the sin of Phogor, for which also the people was punished?
17 So kil al the male children and kil al the women who have ever slept with a man;	17 Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.
18 but spare the lives of the young girls who have never slept with a man, and keep them foryourselves.	18 But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for yourselves:
19 As for you, bivouac outside the camp for seven days, everyone who has kil ed anyone or touched acorpse. Purify yourselves and your prisoners on the third and seventh days,	19 And stay without the camp seven days. He that hath killed a man, or touched one that is killed, shall be purified the third day and the seventh day.
20 and purify al clothing, everything made of skin, everything woven of goat's hair and everythingmade of wood.'	20 And of all the spoil, every garment, or vessel, or any thing made for use, of the skins, or hair of goats, or of wood, shall be purified.
21 The priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had come back from the campaign, 'This is an article ofthe Law which Yahweh prescribed to Moses:	21 Eleazar also the priest spoke to the men of the army, that had fought, in this manner: This is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord hath commanded Moses:
22 although gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead,	22 Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lend, and tin,
23 everything that can withstand fire can be cleaned by being passed through fire, it must stil bepurified with water for purification. Whatever cannot resist fire you must pass through water.	23 And all that may pass through the fire, shall be purified by fire, but whatsoever cannot abide the fire, shall be sanctified with the water of expiation:
24 'Wash your clothes on the seventh day and you wil then be clean. You may then re-enter the camp.'	24 And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being purified, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	25 And the Lord said to Moses:
26 'With the priest Eleazar and the heads of families in the community, take a count of the spoils andcaptives, human and animal.	26 Take the sum of the things that were taken both of man and beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the multitude:
27 You wil then share out the spoil, half and half, between those who fought the campaign and the restof the community.	27 And thou shalt divide the spoil equally, between them that fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.
28 From the share of the combatants who took part in the campaign, you wil set aside one out of everyfive hundred persons, oxen, donkeys and sheep as Yahweh's portion.	28 And thou shalt separate a portion to the Lord from them that fought and were in the battle, one soul of five hundred as well of persons as of oxen and asses and sheep.
29 You wil take this from the half share coming to them and give it to the priest Eleazar as the portionset aside for Yahweh.	29 And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the firstfruits of the Lord.
30 From the half coming to the Israelites, you will take one out of every fifty persons, oxen, donkeys,sheep, and al other animals, and give them to the Levites who are responsible for Yahweh's Dwel ing.'	30 Out of the moiety also of the children of Israel thou shalt take the fiftieth head of persons, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and of all beasts, and thou shalt give them to the Levites that watch in the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
31 Moses and the priest Eleazar did as Yahweh had ordered Moses.	31 And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.
32 The spoils, the remainder of the booty captured by the soldiers, came to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep and goats,	32 And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 seventy-two thousand head of cattle,	33 Seventy-two thousand oxen,
34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,	34 Sixty-one thousand asses:
35 and in persons, women who had never slept with a man, thirty-two thousand in al .	35 And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men.
36 Half was assigned to those who had taken part in the war, namely three hundred and thirty-seventhousand five hundred sheep and goats,	36 And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:
37 of which Yahweh's portion was six hundred and seventy-five,	37 Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six hundred seventy-five sheep.
38 thirty-six thousand head of cattle, of which Yahweh's portion was seventy-two,	38 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:
39 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, of which Yahweh's portion was sixty-one,	39 Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:
40 and sixteen thousand persons, of which Yahweh's portion was thirty-two.	40 Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion of the Lord, thirty-two souls.
41 Moses gave the priest Eleazar the portion set aside for Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.	41 And Moses delivered the number of the firstfruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,
42 As for the half coming to the Israelites which Moses had separated from that of the combatants,	42 Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated for them that had been in the battle.
43 this half, the community's share, came to three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundredsheep and goats,	43 But out of the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that is to say, out of the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 thirty-six thousand head of cattle,	44 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,
45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys	45 And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,
46 and sixteen thousand persons.	46 And out of the sixteen thousand persons,
47 From this half, the Israelites' share, Moses took one out of every fifty, human and animal, and gavethem to the Levites who were responsible for Yahweh's Dwel ing, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.	47 Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.
48 The officers of the thousands who had fought the campaign, the commanders of the thousands andcommanders of the hundreds, came to Moses	48 And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and centurions were come to Moses, they said:
49 and said, 'Your servants have numbered the soldiers under their command: none of our men ismissing.	49 We thy servants have reckoned up the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was wanting.
50 So, as an offering for Yahweh, we have brought what each of us has found in the way of goldornaments, armlets and bracelets, rings, earrings and breastplates, to make expiation for ourselves beforeYahweh.'	50 Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of us could find in the booty, in garters and tablets, rings and bracelets, and chains, that thou mayst pray to the Lord for us.
51 Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted this gold from them, al this jewel ery.	51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in divers kinds,
52 This portion of gold given to Yahweh by the commanders of the thousands and commanders of thehundreds amounted to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.	52 In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from the tribunes and from the centurions.
53 Each of the soldiers took his own booty.	53 For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.
54 But Moses and the priest Eleazar, having accepted the gold from the commanders of the thousandsand commanders of the hundreds, brought it into the Tent of Meeting, to be a reminder of the Israelites beforeYahweh.	54 And that which was received they brought into the tabernacle of the testimony, for a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.