Numbers 31-33

21st Century King James Version

31 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.”

³ And Moses spoke unto the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites and avenge the Lord on Midian.

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

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

⁶ And 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.

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

⁸ And they slew the kings of Midian besides the rest of those who 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.

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

¹⁰ And they burned all their cities wherein they dwelt and all their goodly strongholds with fire.

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

¹² And 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 the Jordan near Jericho.

¹³ And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the congregation went forth to meet them outside the camp.

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

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

¹⁶ Behold, 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.

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

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

¹⁹ And abide ye outside 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.

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

²¹ And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses:

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

²³ every 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.

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

²⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁶ “Take 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;

²⁷ and divide the prey into two parts, between those who took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation.

²⁸ And levy a tribute unto the Lord on the men of war who 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.

²⁹ Take it from their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest for a heave offering of the Lord.

³⁰ And 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, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

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

³² And 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,

³³ and threescore and twelve thousand beeves,

³⁴ and threescore and one thousand asses,

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

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

³⁷ and the Lord’S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

³⁸ And the beeves were thirty and six thousand, of which the Lord’S tribute was threescore and twelve.

³⁹ And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred, of which the Lord’S tribute was threescore and one.

⁴⁰ And the persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’S tribute was thirty and two persons.

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

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

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

⁴⁴ and thirty and six thousand beeves,

⁴⁵ and thirty thousand asses and five hundred,

⁴⁶ and sixteen thousand persons),

⁴⁷ even 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, who kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ And the officers who were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near Moses;

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

⁵⁰ We 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.”

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

⁵² And all the gold from 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.

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

⁵⁴ And 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.

32 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for cattle,

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

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

⁴ even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.”

⁵ Therefore, said they, “If we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over the Jordan.”

⁶ And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?

⁷ And why discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?

⁸ Thus did your fathers when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land.

⁹ For when they went up unto 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 the Lord had given them.

¹⁰ And the Lord’S anger was kindled the same time, 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 unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me,

¹² save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun; for they have wholly followed the Lord.’

¹³ And the Lord’S anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed.

¹⁴ And behold, ye have risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel.

¹⁵ For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness, and ye shall destroy all this people.”

¹⁶ And they came near unto him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and cities for our little ones,

¹⁷ but we ourselves will go ready and armed before the children of Israel until we have brought them unto their place; and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸ We will not return unto our houses until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.

¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on yonder side of the Jordan or forward, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.”

²⁰ And Moses said unto them, “If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,

²¹ and will go all of you armed over the Jordan before the Lord, until He hath driven out His enemies from before Him

²² and the land be subdued before the Lord, then afterward ye shall return and be guiltless before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.

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

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

²⁵ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke unto Moses, saying, “Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.

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

²⁷ but thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith.”

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

²⁹ And Moses said unto them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man armed for battle before the Lord and the land shall be subdued before you, then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession.

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

³¹ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.

³² We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours.”

³³ And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben and unto half the 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 with the cities thereof in the borders, even the cities of the country round about.

³⁴ And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

³⁵ and Atroth, Shophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,

³⁶ and Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.

³⁷ And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,

³⁸ and Nebo, and Baalmeon (their names being changed), and Shibmah, and gave other names unto the cities which they built.

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

⁴⁰ And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt therein.

⁴¹ And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havothjair.

⁴² And Nobah went and took Kenath and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

33 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

² And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord, and these are their journeys according to their goings out:

³ And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the morrow after the Passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,

⁴ for the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, whom the Lord had smitten among them. Upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

⁵ And the children of Israel removed from Rameses and pitched camp in Succoth.

⁶ And they departed from Succoth and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

⁷ And they removed from Etham and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baalzephon; and they pitched before Migdol.

⁸ And they departed from before Pihahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

⁹ And they removed from Marah and came unto Elim; and in Elim were twelve fountains of water and threescore and ten palm trees, and they pitched there.

¹⁰ And they removed from Elim and encamped by the Red Sea.

¹¹ And they removed from the Red Sea and encamped in the Wilderness of Sin.

¹² And they took their journey out of the Wilderness of Sin and encamped in Dophkah.

¹³ And they departed from Dophkah and encamped in Alush.

¹⁴ And they removed from Alush and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

¹⁵ And they departed from Rephidim and pitched camp in the Wilderness of Sinai.

¹⁶ And they removed from the Desert of Sinai and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah [that is, The graves of lust].

¹⁷ And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah and encamped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸ And they departed from Hazeroth and pitched in Rithmah.

¹⁹ And they departed from Rithmah and pitched at Rimmonperez.

²⁰ And they departed from Rimmonperez and pitched in Libnah.

²¹ And they removed from Libnah and pitched at Rissah.

²² And they journeyed from Rissah and pitched in Kehelathah.

²³ And they went from Kehelathah and pitched in Mount Shepher.

²⁴ And they removed from Mount Shepher and encamped in Haradah.

²⁵ And they removed from Haradah and pitched in Makheloth.

²⁶ And they removed from Makheloth and encamped at Tahath.

²⁷ And they departed from Tahath and pitched at Terah.

²⁸ And they removed from Terah and pitched in Mithkah.

²⁹ And they went from Mithkah and pitched in Hashmonah.

³⁰ And they departed from Hashmonah and encamped at Moseroth.

³¹ And they departed from Moseroth and pitched in Benejaakan.

³² And they removed from Benejaakan and encamped at Horhagidgad.

³³ And they went from Horhagidgad and pitched in Jotbathah.

³⁴ And they removed from Jotbathah and encamped at Abronah.

³⁵ And they departed from Abronah and encamped at Eziongeber.

³⁶ And they removed from Eziongeber and pitched in the Wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.

³⁷ And they removed from Kadesh and pitched in Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

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

³⁹ And Aaron was a hundred and twenty and three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ And King Arad the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

⁴¹ And they departed from Mount Hor and pitched camp in Zalmonah.

⁴² And they departed from Zalmonah and pitched in Punon.

⁴³ And they departed from Punon and pitched in Oboth.

⁴⁴ And they departed from Oboth and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab.

⁴⁵ And they departed from Iim and pitched in Dibongad.

⁴⁶ And they removed from Dibongad and encamped in Almondiblathaim.

⁴⁷ And they removed from Almondiblathaim and pitched in the mountains of Abarim before Nebo.

⁴⁸ And they departed from the mountains of Abarim and pitched in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.

⁴⁹ And they pitched by the Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.

⁵⁰ And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho, saying,

⁵¹ “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: ‘When ye have passed over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

⁵² then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their idols, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places.

⁵³ And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell therein, for I have given you the land to possess it.

⁵⁴ And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families; and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance. Every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth, according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

⁵⁵ But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come to pass that those who ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

⁵⁶ Moreover it shall come to pass that I shall do unto you as I thought to do unto them.’”