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Israel Fights Back Against the Midianites

31 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “Moses, tell the Israelites this: ‘Go and attack the Midianites, and do to them what they did to you.’ After that Moses, you will die.”[a]

So Moses spoke to the people. He said, “Choose some of your men to be soldiers. The Lord will use these men to do to the Midianites what they did to you. Choose 1000 men from each of the tribes of Israel. There will be a total of 12,000 soldiers from the tribes of Israel.”

Moses sent these 12,000 men to war. He sent Phinehas son of Eleazar with them as the priest. Phinehas took the holy things and the horns and trumpets with him. The Israelites fought the Midianites as the Lord had commanded. They killed all the Midianite men. Among the people who they killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with a sword.

The Israelites took the Midianite women and children as prisoners. They also took all their sheep, cattle, and other things. 10 Then they burned all their towns and villages. 11 They took all the people and animals 12 and brought them to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the other Israelites. They brought all the things they took in war to the camp of Israel. The Israelites were camped in the Jordan Valley in Moab, on the east side of the Jordan River across from Jericho. 13 Then Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the people went out of the camp to meet with the soldiers.

14 Moses was very angry with the leaders of the army, the commanders of 1000 men, and the commanders of 100 men, who came back from the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Why did you let the women live? 16 These are the women who listened to Balaam and caused the men of Israel to turn away from the Lord that time at Peor. The disease will come to the Lord’s people again. 17 Now, kill all the Midianite boys, and kill all the Midianite women who have had sexual relations with a man. 18 You can let all the young girls live—but only if they never had sexual relations with any man. 19 And then, all you men who killed other people must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must stay outside the camp even if you just touched a dead body. On the third day you and your prisoners must make yourselves pure. You must do the same thing again on the seventh day. 20 You must wash all of your clothes. You must wash anything made with leather, wool, or wood. You must purify yourselves.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers. He said, “These are the rules that the Lord gave to Moses for soldiers coming back from war. 22-23 You must put gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead into the fire and then wash these things with the special water to make them pure. If something can be put in the fire, you must put it in fire to purify it. If things cannot be put in fire, you must still wash them with the special water. 24 On the seventh day you must wash all of your clothes. Then you will be pure. After that you can come into camp.”

25 Then the Lord said to Moses, 26 “You, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders should count all the prisoners, animals, and everything the soldiers took in war. 27 Then divide these things between the soldiers who went to war and the rest of the Israelites. 28 Take part of these things from the soldiers who went to war. That part will belong to the Lord. His share is one from every 500 items. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, and sheep. 29 Take that share from the soldiers’ half of the things they took in war. Then give these things to Eleazar the priest. That part will belong to the Lord. 30 And then, from the people’s half, take one thing for every 50 items. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or any other animal. Give that share to the Levites, because they take care of the Lord’s Holy Tent.”

31 So Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The soldiers had taken 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 women. (These are only the women who had not had sexual relations with any man.) 36 The soldiers who went to war got 337,500 sheep. 37 They gave 675 sheep to the Lord. 38 The soldiers got 36,000 cattle. They gave 72 cattle to the Lord. 39 The soldiers got 30,500 donkeys. They gave 61 donkeys to the Lord. 40 The soldiers got 16,000 women. They gave 32 women to the Lord. 41 Moses gave all these gifts for the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded him.

42 Then Moses counted the people’s half. This was their share that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war. 43 The people got 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 women. 47 Moses took one out of every 50 women and animals. He gave them to the Levites because they took care of the Lord’s Holy Tent. Moses did this as the Lord had commanded.

48 Then the leaders of the army (the leaders over 1000 men and the leaders over 100 men) came to Moses. 49 They told Moses, “We, your servants, have counted our soldiers. We have not missed any of them. 50 So we are bringing the Lord’s gift from every soldier. We are bringing things that are made of gold—armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This gift to the Lord is to make us pure.”

51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted all these gold items from them. 52 The gold that the commanders[b] and captains[c] gave to the Lord weighed about 424 pounds.[d] 53 The soldiers kept the rest of their share of the things they took in war. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders and captains and then put that gold in the Meeting Tent. This present was a memorial[e] before the Lord for the Israelites.

Tribes East of the Jordan River

32 The tribes of Reuben and Gad had many cattle. These people looked at the land near Jazer and Gilead. They saw that this land was good for their cattle. So the people from the tribes of Reuben and Gad came to Moses. They spoke to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the people. 3-4 They said, “We, your servants, have many cattle. And the land that the Lord let the people of Israel capture is good land for cattle. This land includes the area around Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sibmah,[f] Nebo, and Beon. If it pleases you, we would like this land to be given to us. Don’t take us to the other side of the Jordan River.”

Moses told the people from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, “Will you let your brothers go and fight while you settle here? Why are you trying to discourage the Israelites? You will make them not want to cross the river and take the land that the Lord has given to them! Your fathers did the same thing to me. In Kadesh Barnea I sent spies to look at the land. These men went as far as Eshcol Valley. They saw the land, and they discouraged the Israelites. These men made the Israelites not want to go into the land that the Lord had given to them. 10 The Lord became very angry with the people. He made this promise: 11 ‘None of the people who came from Egypt and are 20 years old or older will be allowed to see this land. I made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give this land to these people, but they did not really follow me. 12 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun really followed the Lord!’

13 “The Lord was very angry with the Israelites. So he made the people stay in the desert for 40 years. He made them stay there until all the people who had sinned against the Lord were dead. 14 And now you are doing the same thing that your fathers did. You sinful people, do you want the Lord to be even more angry with his people? 15 If you stop following the Lord, he will make Israel stay even longer in the desert. Then you will destroy all these people!”

16 But the people from the tribes of Reuben and Gad went to Moses. They said, “We will build cities for our children and barns for our animals here. 17 Then our children can be safe from the other people who live in this land. But we will gladly come and help the other Israelites. We will bring them to their land. 18 We will not come back home until everyone in Israel has taken his part of the land. 19 We will not take any of the land west of the Jordan River. No, our part of the land is east of the Jordan River.”

20 So Moses told them, “If you do all these things, this land will belong to you. But your soldiers must go before the Lord into battle. 21 Your soldiers must cross the Jordan River and be ready to fight for the Lord until he forces the enemy to leave. 22 After the Lord helps us all take the land, you can go back home. Then the Lord and Israel will not think that you are guilty. And the Lord will let you have this land. 23 But if you don’t do these things, you will be sinning against the Lord. And know for sure that you will be punished for your sin. 24 Build cities for your children and barns for your animals. But then, you must do what you promised.”

25 Then the people from the tribes of Gad and Reuben said to Moses, “We are your servants. You are our master, so we will do what you say. 26 Our wives, children, and all our animals will stay in the cities of Gilead. 27 But we, your servants, will cross the Jordan River. We will march before the Lord into battle, as our master says.”

28 So Moses, Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and all the leaders of the tribes of Israel heard them make that promise. 29 Moses said to them, “The people of Gad and Reuben will cross the Jordan River. They will march before the Lord into battle. They will help you take the land. And you will give the land of Gilead as their part of the country. 30 But if they do not cross the river with you ready to fight, they will not get any land on this side. They will get only a share of the land of Canaan with the rest of you.”

31 The people of Gad and Reuben answered, “We promise to do what the Lord commanded. 32 We will cross the Jordan River and march before the Lord into the land of Canaan. And our part of the country is the land east of the Jordan River.”

33 So Moses gave that land to the people of Gad, to the people of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. (Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) That land included the kingdom of Sihon the Amorite and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan and all the cities around that area.

34 The people of Gad built the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran. They built cities with strong walls, and they built barns for their animals.

37 The people of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, Baal Meon, and Sibmah. They used the names of the cities that they rebuilt. But they changed the names of Nebo and Baal Meon.

39 People from Makir’s family group went to Gilead.[g] (Makir was Manasseh’s son.) They defeated the city. They defeated the Amorites who lived there. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to Makir from the tribe of Manasseh, and his family settled there. 41 Jair, from the family of Manasseh, defeated the small towns there. Then he called them Towns of Jair. 42 Nobah defeated Kenath and the small towns near it. Then he called that place by his own name.

Israel’s Journey From Egypt

33 Here is a list of the places the Israelites went when they left Egypt. They were organized in groups like an army and were led by Moses and Aaron. Following the Lord’s command, Moses kept a record of each place they stayed before moving on to the next place. These are all the places they went:

On the 15th day of the first month, they left Rameses. That morning after Passover, the Israelites marched out of Egypt with their arms raised in victory. All the people of Egypt saw them. The Egyptians were burying all the people the Lord killed. They were burying all their firstborn sons. The Lord had shown his judgment against the gods[h] of Egypt.

The Israelites left Rameses and traveled to Succoth. From Succoth they traveled to Etham. They camped there at the edge of the desert. They left Etham and went to Pi Hahiroth. This was near Baal Zephon. They camped near Migdol.

They left Pi Hahiroth and walked through the middle of the sea. They went toward the desert. Then they traveled for three days through the desert of Etham. The people camped at Marah.

They left Marah and went to Elim and camped there. There were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees there.

10 They left Elim and camped near the Red Sea.[i]

11 They left the Red Sea and camped in the western Sinai desert.[j]

12 They left there and camped at Dophkah.

13 They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

14 They left Alush and camped at Rephidim. There was no water for the people to drink at that place.

15 They left Rephidim and camped in the desert of Sinai.

16 They left the desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

17 They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

18 They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

19 They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.

20 They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

21 They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

22 They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

23 They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

24 They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

25 They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

26 They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

27 They left Tahath and camped at Terah.

28 They left Terah and camped at Mithcah.

29 They left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah.

30 They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

31 They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.

32 They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

33 They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

34 They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

35 They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

36 They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin.

37 They left Kadesh and camped at Hor. This was the mountain at the border of the country of Edom. 38 Aaron the priest obeyed the Lord and went up Mount Hor. Aaron died at that place on the first day of the fifth month. That was the 40th year after the Israelites had left Egypt. 39 Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 Arad was a town in the Negev, in the land of Canaan. The Canaanite king in that place heard that the Israelites were coming. 41 The people left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

42 They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

43 They left Punon and camped at Oboth.

44 They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim. This was at the border of the country of Moab.

45 They left Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad.

46 They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.

47 They left Almon Diblathaim and camped on the mountains of Abarim near Nebo.

48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped in the Jordan Valley in Moab. This was near the Jordan River across from Jericho. 49 They camped by the Jordan River in the Jordan Valley in Moab. Their camp went from Beth Jeshimoth to Acacia Field.

50 There, the Lord spoke to Moses and said, 51 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them this: You will cross the Jordan River. You will go into the land of Canaan. 52 You will take the land from the people you find there. You must destroy all of their carved statues and idols. You must destroy all of their high places. 53 You will take the land and you will settle there, because I am giving this land to you. It will belong to your family groups. 54 Each of your family groups will get part of the land. You will throw lots to decide which family group gets each part of the country. Large family groups will get large parts of the land. Small family groups will get small parts of the land. The lots will show which family group gets which part of the land. Each tribe will get its part of the land.

55 “You must force these other people to leave the country. If you let them stay in your country, they will bring many troubles to you. They will be like a needle[k] in your eye and a thorn in your side. They will bring many troubles to the country where you will be living. 56 I showed you what I would do—and I will do that to you!”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:2 you will die Literally, “you will be gathered to your people.”
  2. Numbers 31:52 commanders Literally, “leaders of 1000 men.”
  3. Numbers 31:52 captains Literally, “leaders of 100 men.”
  4. Numbers 31:52 424 pounds Literally, “16,750 shekels” (190 kg).
  5. Numbers 31:54 memorial Something that helps people remember things that happened in the past.
  6. Numbers 32:3 Sibmah Or “Sebam.”
  7. Numbers 32:39 Gilead Here, this seems to refer to a city, perhaps Ramoth Gilead. But it might refer to the whole area. See Hos. 6:8.
  8. Numbers 33:4 gods This might be the false gods of Egypt. Or here, it might mean the king and other powerful leaders in Egypt.
  9. Numbers 33:10 Red Sea Or “Reed Sea,” but see 1 Kings 9:26.
  10. Numbers 33:11 western Sinai desert Literally, “desert of Sin.”
  11. Numbers 33:55 needle A thin barb or thorn from a plant.

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