Numbers 31–33

1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2“Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

3Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh’s vengeance on Midian.

4You shall send one thousand out of every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”

5So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

6Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

7They fought against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses. They killed every male.

8They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

9The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder.

10All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.

11They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal.

12They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

13Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp.

14Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

15Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive?

16Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.

17Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.

18But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

19“Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

20You shall purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.”

21Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses.

22However the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

23everything that may withstand the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.

24You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.”

25Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

26“Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation;

27and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.

28Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks.

29Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh’s wave offering.

30Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle.”

31Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

32Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,

33seventy-two thousand head of cattle,

34sixty-one thousand donkeys,

35and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him.

36The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep;

37and Yahweh’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five.

38The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which Yahweh’s tribute was seventy-two.

39The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which Yahweh’s tribute was sixty-one.

40The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom Yahweh’s tribute was thirty-two persons.

41Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

42Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought

43(now the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

44thirty-six thousand head of cattle,

45thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,

46and sixteen thousand persons),

47even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

48The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses.

49They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us.

50We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.”

51Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels.

52All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to Yahweh, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.

53The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.

54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting for a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh.

1Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock.

2Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,

3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

4the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.”

5They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Jordan.”

6Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?

7Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them?

8Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them.

10Yahweh’s anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying,

11‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me,

12except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed Yahweh completely.’

13Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in Yahweh’s sight was consumed.

14“Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel.

15For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”

16They came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones;

17but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

18We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their inheritance.

19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.”

20Moses said to them: “If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war,

21and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before Yahweh until he has driven out his enemies from before him,

22and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be clear of obligation to Yahweh and to Israel. Then this land shall be your possession before Yahweh.

23“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out.

24Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.”

25The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.

26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead;

27but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says.”

28So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the children of Israel.

29Moses said to them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle before Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;

30but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

31The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do.

32We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

33Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan; the land, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land.

34The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

35Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

36Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep.

37The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

38Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built.

39The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein.

40Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein.

41Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair.

42Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

1These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

2Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh. These are their journeys according to their starting points.

3They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,

4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them. Yahweh also executed judgments on their gods.

5The children of Israel traveled from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth.

6They traveled from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

7They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon, and they encamped before Migdol.

8They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah.

9They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim. In Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there.

10They traveled from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea.

11They traveled from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

12They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.

13They traveled from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

14They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

15They traveled from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai.

16They traveled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah.

17They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth.

18They traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah.

19They traveled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon Perez.

20They traveled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah.

21They traveled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah.

22They traveled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah.

23They traveled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher.

24They traveled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah.

25They traveled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth.

26They traveled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath.

27They traveled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah.

28They traveled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah.

29They traveled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah.

30They traveled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth.

31They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan.

32They traveled from Bene Jaakan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad.

33They traveled from Hor Haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah.

34They traveled from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah.

35They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber.

36They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

37They traveled from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.

38Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Yahweh and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.

39Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor.

40The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

41They traveled from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah.

42They traveled from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon.

43They traveled from Punon, and encamped in Oboth.

44They traveled from Oboth, and encamped in Iye Abarim, in the border of Moab.

45They traveled from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon Gad.

46They traveled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim.

47They traveled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

48They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

49They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab.

50Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

51Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places.

53You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it.

54You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.

55“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell.

56It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you.”