Numbers 31

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 “First, avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites, and then you shall be gathered to your 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 immediately Moses said: “Arm the men among you for a battle, so that they may be able to fulfill the retribution of the Lord on the Midianites.
4 You will put a thousand men in the field from each of the tribes of Israel.'	4 Let one thousand men be chosen from each tribe of Israel, who shall be sent to war.”
5 In this way Israel's thousands provided twelve thousand men equipped for war, one thousand fromeach tribe:	5 And they gave one thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand foot soldiers 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 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest; also, 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 Midianites and had prevailed, they killed 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 they put to death by the sword their kings: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five leaders of the nation, and also Balaam the son of Beor.
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 seized their women and little ones, and all their cattle, and all their goods; whatever they were able to have, they despoiled.
10 They set fire to the towns where they lived and to al their encampments.	10 Both their cities and their villages, as well as their fortresses, they burned.
11 Then, taking al their booty, everything they had captured, human and animal,	11 And they carried away prey from everything that they had seized, 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 led these to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. But the remainder of the articles they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, next to the Jordan, opposite Jericho.
13 Moses, the priest Eleazar and al the leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet them.	13 Then Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them beyond 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 leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had arrived from the battle,
15 He said, 'Why have you spared the life of al the women?	15 said: “Why have you spared the females?
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 the ones who deceived the sons of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam, and who caused you betray the Lord by the sin of Peor, because of which the people also were struck down?
17 So kil al the male children and kil al the women who have ever slept with a man;	17 Therefore, put to death all of them: whatever is of the male sex, even among the little ones, and cut the throats of those women who have known men by sexual relations.
18 but spare the lives of the young girls who have never slept with a man, and keep them foryourselves.	18 But the young girls, and all female virgins, reserve 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 remain beyond the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a man, or who has touched one that was killed, shall be purified on the third day and on the seventh day.
20 and purify al clothing, everything made of skin, everything woven of goat's hair and everythingmade of wood.'	20 And all of the spoils, whether it is a garment, or a vessel, or another useful thing, made from the pelts or hair of goats, or from wood, shall be expiated.”
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 Likewise, Eleazar the priest spoke in this manner to the men of the army who had fought: “This is the precept of the law, which the Lord has commanded Moses:
22 although gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead,	22 Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, 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 be able to pass through fire, shall be purified by fire. But whatever is not able to sustain fire shall be sanctified with the waters 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 on the seventh day, and, after having been purified, you shall enter the camp.”
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	25 And the Lord also 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 those things which were captured, from man even to beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the common people.
27 You wil then share out the spoil, half and half, between those who fought the campaign and the restof the community.	27 And you shall divide the prey equally, among those who went out to war and fought, and among the remainder 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 you shall separate a portion for the Lord from the portion of those who fought and were in the battle: one soul out of five hundred, as much from humans, as from oxen and donkeys 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 you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because these are the first-fruits 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 Likewise, from the half of the portion belonging to the sons of Israel, you shall receive the fiftieth head of humans, and of oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and of all living things, and you shall give these to the Levites who stand watch over the care of the tabernacle of the Lord.”
31 Moses and the priest Eleazar did as Yahweh had ordered Moses.	31 And Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had instructed.
32 The spoils, the remainder of the booty captured by the soldiers, came to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep and goats,	32 Now the prey which the army had seized 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 donkeys,
35 and in persons, women who had never slept with a man, thirty-two thousand in al .	35 and thirty-two thousand human lives, of the female sex, who 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 of the portion was given to those who had been in the battle: three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep.
37 of which Yahweh's portion was six hundred and seventy-five,	37 From these, for the portion of the Lord, there were accounted: six hundred seventy-five sheep;
38 thirty-six thousand head of cattle, of which Yahweh's portion was seventy-two,	38 and from the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen;
39 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, of which Yahweh's portion was sixty-one,	39 from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, sixty-one donkeys.
40 and sixteen thousand persons, of which Yahweh's portion was thirty-two.	40 From the sixteen thousand human souls, 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 first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as had been commanded of him,
42 As for the half coming to the Israelites which Moses had separated from that of the combatants,	42 from the one half portion belonging to the sons of Israel, which he had separated from the portion of those who 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 Yet truly, from the one half portion which fell to the remainder of the multitude, that is, from the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 thirty-six thousand head of cattle,	44 and from the thirty-six thousand oxen,
45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys	45 and from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46 and sixteen thousand persons.	46 and from 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 who stand watch at the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had instructed.
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 leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions had approached Moses, they said:
49 and said, 'Your servants have numbered the soldiers under their command: none of our men ismissing.	49 “We, your servants, have taken a census of the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and indeed not one was lacking.
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 For this reason, we offer as gifts to the Lord whatever gold each one was able to find amid the spoils, in anklets and arm bands, rings and bracelets, and little chains, so that you may intercede for us to the Lord.”
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 its various 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 weighing sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels, from the tribunes and the centurions.
53 Each of the soldiers took his own booty.	53 For whatever each one had taken away in the spoils 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 having been accepted, they took it into the tabernacle of the testimony, as a memorial of the sons of Israel before the Lord.