Numbers 31

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:	1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.	2 "Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites, and then you shall be taken to your people."
3 And Moses forthwith said: Arm of you men to fight, who may take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.	3 So Moses told the people, "Select men from your midst and arm them for war, to attack the Midianites and execute the LORD'S vengeance on them.
4 Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to the war.	4 From each of the tribes of Israel you shall send a band of one thousand men to war."
5 And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve thousand men well appointed for battle.	5 From the clans of Israel, therefore, a thousand men of each tribe were levied, so that there were twelve thousand men armed for war.
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.	6 Moses sent them out on the campaign, a thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest for the campaign, who had with him the sacred vessels and the trumpets for sounding the alarm.
7 And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew all the men.	7 They waged war against the Midianites, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male among them.
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.	8 Besides those slain in battle, they killed the five Midianite kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba; and they also executed Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword.
9 And they took their women, and their children captives, and all their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they plundered:	9 But the Israelites kept the women of the Midianites with their little ones as captives, and all their herds and flocks and wealth as spoil,
10 And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they burned.	10 while they set on fire all the towns where they had settled and all their encampments.
11 And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken both of men and of beasts.	11 Then they took all the booty, with the people and beasts they had captured, and brought the captives, together with the spoils and booty,
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.	12 to Moses and the priest Eleazar and to the Israelite community at their camp on the plains of Moab, along the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.
13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the synagogue went forth to meet them without the camp.	13 When Moses and the priest Eleazar, with all the princes of the community, went outside the camp to meet them,
14 And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,	14 Moses became angry with the officers of the army, the clan and company commanders, who were returning from combat.
15 Said: Why have you saved the women?	15 "So you have spared all the women!" he exclaimed.
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?	16 "Why, they are the very ones who on Balaam's advice prompted the unfaithfulness of the Israelites toward the LORD in the Peor affair, which began the slaughter of the LORD'S community.
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.	17 Slay, therefore, every male child and every woman who has had intercourse with a man.
18 But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for yourselves:	18 But you may spare and keep for yourselves all girls who had no intercourse with a man.
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.	19 "Moreover, you shall stay outside the camp for seven days, and those of you who have slain anyone or touched anyone slain in battle shall purify yourselves on the third and on the seventh day. This applies both to you and to your captives.
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.	20 You shall also purify every article of cloth, leather, goats' hair, or wood."
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:	21 Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had returned from combat: "This is what the law, as prescribed by the LORD to Moses, ordains:
22 Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lend, and tin,	22 Whatever can stand fire, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead,
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:	23 you shall put into the fire, that it may become clean; however, it must also be purified with lustral water. But whatever cannot stand fire you shall put into the water.
24 And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being purified, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.	24 On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes, and then you will again be clean. After that you may enter the camp."
25 And the Lord said to Moses:	25 The LORD said to Moses:
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:	26 "With the help of the priest Eleazar and of the heads of the ancestral houses, count up all the human captives and the beasts that have been taken;
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.	27 then divide them evenly, giving half to those who took active part in the war by going out to combat, and half to the rest of the community.
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.	28 You shall levy a tax for the LORD on the warriors who went out to combat: one out of every five hundred persons, oxen, asses and sheep
29 And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the firstfruits of the Lord.	29 in their half of the spoil you shall turn over to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the LORD.
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.	30 From the Israelites' half you shall take one out of every fifty persons, and the same from the different beasts, oxen, asses and sheep, and give them to the Levites, who have charge of the LORD'S Dwelling."
31 And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.	31 So Moses and the priest Eleazar did this, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
32 And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,	32 This booty, what was left of the loot which the soldiers had taken, amounted to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 Seventy-two thousand oxen,	33 seventy-two thousand oxen,
34 Sixty-one thousand asses:	34 sixty-one thousand asses,
35 And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men.	35 and thirty-two thousand girls who were still virgins.
36 And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:	36 The half that fell to those who had gone out to combat was: three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
37 Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six hundred seventy-five sheep.	37 of which six hundred and seventy-five fell as tax to the LORD;
38 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:	38 thirty-six thousand oxen, of which seventy-two fell as tax to the LORD;
39 Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:	39 thirty thousand five hundred asses, of which sixty-one fell as tax to the LORD;
40 Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion of the Lord, thirty-two souls.	40 and sixteen thousand persons, of whom thirty-two fell as tax to the LORD.
41 And Moses delivered the number of the firstfruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,	41 The taxes contributed to the LORD, Moses gave to the priest Eleazar, as the LORD had commanded him.
42 Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated for them that had been in the battle.	42 The half for the other Israelites, which fell to the community when Moses had taken it from the soldiers, was:
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,	43 three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,	44 thirty-six thousand oxen,
45 And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,	45 thirty thousand five hundred asses,
46 And out of the sixteen thousand persons,	46 and sixteen thousand persons.
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.	47 From this, the Israelites' share, Moses, as the LORD had ordered, took one out of every fifty, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites, who had charge of the LORD'S Dwelling.
48 And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and centurions were come to Moses, they said:	48 Then the officers who had been clan and company commanders of the army came up to Moses
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.	49 and said to him, "Your servants have counted up the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.
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.	50 So, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD, each of us will bring as an offering to the LORD some gold article he has picked up, such as an anklet, a bracelet, a ring, an earring, or a necklace."
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in divers kinds,	51 Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted this gold from them, all of it in well-wrought articles.
52 In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from the tribunes and from the centurions.	52 The gold that they gave as a contribution to the LORD amounted in all to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. This was from the clan and company commanders;
53 For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.	53 what the common soldiers had looted each one kept for himself.
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.	54 Moses, then, and the priest Eleazar accepted the gold from the clan and company commanders, and put it in the meeting tent as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.