Numbers

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

1The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

2Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

2"Pay the Midianites back for what they did to Israel. After that, you will die and join your family who died before you."

3And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.

3So Moses said to the people, "Get some of your men ready for war. Send them against Midian to pay Midian back for the LORD."

4Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.

4"Send 1,000 men to the fight from each of the twelve tribes of Israel."

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

5So 1,000 men came from each tribe. That made 12,000 men ready for war.

6And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

6Moses sent them out to fight. Phinehas went with them. He was the son of Eleazar the priest, the man who led worship for God. Phinehas carried holy things from the worship tent and the trumpets for signals.

7And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

7They fought against Midian, just as the LORD had told Moses. They killed every man.

8And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

8Among the dead were the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with a sword.

9And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.

9The Israelites took the women and children of Midian as prisoners. They took all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods.

10And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.

10They burned down every town where the Midianites lived. They burned their camps too.

Note"Goodly castles" in the King James Bible means the Midianites' camps or settlements. They were not stone castles.

11And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.

11They carried away everything they had taken, both people and animals.

12And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.

12They brought the prisoners and all the goods to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to all the people. The camp was on the flat land of Moab, by the Jordan River near Jericho.

13And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders went outside the camp to meet them.

14And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.

14Moses was angry with the army officers. These were the men who led groups of a thousand and groups of a hundred.

15And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

15Moses asked them, "Did you let all the women live?"

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

16"These are the women who listened to Balaam's advice. They led Israel to turn away from the LORD at Peor. Then a sickness spread through the people, and many died."

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

17"So now kill every boy. Also kill every woman who has been with a man."

18But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

18"But let every girl live who has never been with a man. Keep them for yourselves."

19And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

19"Stay outside the camp for seven days. This is for anyone who killed a person or touched a dead body. On the third day and the seventh day, wash yourselves and your prisoners clean."

20And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.

20"Wash clean every piece of clothing. Do the same with anything made of leather, goat hair, or wood."

21And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses;

21Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers who had gone to the battle. "This is the rule the LORD gave to Moses."

22Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

22"It is about gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead."

23Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

23"Anything that fire cannot ruin must be put through fire. Then it is clean. It must also be washed with the special cleansing water. Anything that fire would ruin must be put through water."

24And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

24"On the seventh day, wash your clothes. Then you will be clean. After that you may come back into the camp."

25And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

25The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

26Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:

26"You, Eleazar the priest, and the family leaders must count everything that was taken. Count the people and the animals."

27And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:

27"Then split it all into two parts. One part is for the soldiers who fought. One part is for everyone else."

28And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:

28"From the soldiers' half, set aside a gift for the LORD. Take one out of every 500 people, cattle, donkeys, and sheep."

29Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD.

29"Take that from the soldiers' half. Give it to Eleazar the priest as a gift lifted up to the LORD."

30And of the children of Israel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.

30"From the people's half, take one out of every 50. Take from the people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and other animals. Give them to the Levites, the men who take care of the LORD's worship tent."

31And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

31Moses and Eleazar the priest did just what the LORD told Moses.

32And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

32Here is what was left of what the soldiers had taken: 675,000 sheep,

33And threescore and twelve thousand beeves,

3372,000 cattle,

NoteThe King James Bible says "beeves," an old word for cattle. It also counts by twenties, so "threescore and twelve" means 72.

34And threescore and one thousand asses,

3461,000 donkeys,

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

35and 32,000 girls who had never been with a man.

36And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:

36The half that went to the soldiers came to 337,500 sheep.

37And the LORD’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

37Out of those sheep, 675 were the LORD's part.

38And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD’s tribute was threescore and twelve.

38There were 36,000 cattle. Out of those, 72 were the LORD's part.

39And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the LORD’s tribute was threescore and one.

39There were 30,500 donkeys. Out of those, 61 were the LORD's part.

40And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty and two persons.

40There were 16,000 people. Out of those, 32 were the LORD's part.

41And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’s heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

41Moses gave the LORD's part to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had said.

42And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided from the men that warred,

42Moses had set apart the other half for the rest of the people.

43(Now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,

43That half was 337,500 sheep,

44And thirty and six thousand beeves,

4436,000 cattle,

45And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,

4530,500 donkeys,

46And sixteen thousand persons;)

46and 16,000 people.

47Even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

47From that half, Moses took one out of every 50 people and animals. He gave them to the Levites, who took care of the LORD's worship tent. He did just what the LORD had told him.

48And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:

48Then the army officers came to Moses. They led the groups of a thousand and the groups of a hundred.

49And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.

49They said, "We counted the soldiers under us. Not one man is missing."

50We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.

50"So we have brought a gift for the LORD. It is the gold each man took: armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. We bring it to make things right with the LORD for our lives."

Note"Tablets" here means necklaces. They were not tablets for writing.

51And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.

51Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them. It was all made into fine jewelry.

52And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

52All the gold given to the LORD by the officers weighed 16,750 shekels.

NoteA shekel was a weight, about the weight of two large coins. So this was a very large pile of gold.

53(For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)

53Each soldier had also kept things he took for himself.

54And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.

54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the officers' gold into the worship tent. It was kept there as a reminder about Israel before the LORD.