Numbers 31-33

English Standard Version

Vengeance on Midian

31 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²^(A)“Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall ^(B)be gathered to your people.” ³So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian. ⁴You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand ^(C)armed for war. ⁶And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and ^(D)the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. ⁷They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and ^(E)killed every male. ⁸They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, ^(F)Evi, Rekem, ^(G)Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed ^(H)Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their ^(I)encampments, they burned with fire, ¹¹^(J)and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. ¹²Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on ^(K)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹³Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴And Moses was angry with ^(L)the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. ¹⁵Moses said to them, “Have you ^(M)let all the women live? ¹⁶Behold, ^(N)these, ^(O)on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of ^(P)Peor, and so ^(Q)the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. ¹⁷Now therefore, ^(R)kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. ¹⁸But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him ^(S)keep alive for yourselves. ¹⁹^(T)Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and ^(U)whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. ²⁰You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: ²²only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified ^(V)with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. ²⁴You must ^(W)wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”

²⁵The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶“Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, ²⁷and ^(X)divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. ²⁸And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, ^(Y)one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. ²⁹Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. ³⁰And from the people of Israel's half you shall take ^(Z)one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites ^(AA)who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” ³¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³²Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, ³³72,000 cattle, ³⁴61,000 donkeys, ³⁵and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. ³⁶And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, ³⁷and ^(AB)the Lord's tribute of sheep was 675. ³⁸The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 72. ³⁹The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord's tribute was 61. ⁴⁰The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 32 persons. ⁴¹And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, ^(AC)as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴²From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— ⁴³now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵and 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶and 16,000 persons— ⁴⁷^(AD)from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸Then ^(AE)the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses ⁴⁹and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. ⁵⁰And we have brought the Lord's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, ^(AF)to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” ⁵¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. ⁵²And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.^[a] ⁵³^(AG)(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) ⁵⁴And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, ^(AH)as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.

Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead

32 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of ^(AI)Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. ²So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, ³^(AJ)“Ataroth, ^(AK)Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, ^(AL)Nebo, and Beon, ⁴the land ^(AM)that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? ⁷Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? ⁸Your fathers did this, ^(AN)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 people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them. ¹⁰^(AO)And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, ¹¹‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, ^(AP)from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give ^(AQ)to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, ¹²none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the ^(AR)Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for ^(AS)they have wholly followed the Lord.’ ¹³And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them ^(AT)wander in the wilderness forty years, until ^(AU)all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. ¹⁴And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! ¹⁵For if you ^(AV)turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

¹⁶Then they came near to him and said, ^(AW)“We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, ¹⁷but ^(AX)we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸^(AY)We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. ¹⁹For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, ^(AZ)because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.” ²⁰So ^(BA)Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, ²¹and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has ^(BB)driven out his enemies from before him ²²and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and ^(BC)this land shall be your possession before the Lord. ²³But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and ^(BD)be sure your sin will find you out. ²⁴^(BE)Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.” ²⁵And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. ²⁶^(BF)Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, ²⁷^(BG)but your servants will pass over, every man who is ^(BH)armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord orders.”

²⁸So ^(BI)Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to ^(BJ)Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. ²⁹And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. ³⁰However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the Lord has said to your servants, we will do. ³²We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

³³And ^(BK)Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people 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 and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. ³⁴And the people of Gad built ^(BL)Dibon, ^(BM)Ataroth, ^(BN)Aroer, ³⁵Atroth-shophan, ^(BO)Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶^(BP)Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, ^(BQ)fortified cities, and folds for sheep. ³⁷And the people of Reuben built ^(BR)Heshbon, ^(BS)Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸^(BT)Nebo, and ^(BU)Baal-meon (^(BV)their names were changed), and ^(BW)Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built. ³⁹And the sons of ^(BX)Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰And Moses ^(BY)gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. ⁴¹And ^(BZ)Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.^[b] ⁴²And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Recounting Israel's Journey

33 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ²Moses wrote down their starting places, ^(CA)stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. ³They ^(CB)set out from Rameses in ^(CC)the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out ^(CD)triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, ⁴while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, ^(CE)whom the Lord had struck down among them. ^(CF)On their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

⁵So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at ^(CG)Succoth. ⁶And they set out from Succoth and camped at ^(CH)Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. ⁷And they set out from Etham and turned back to ^(CI)Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. ⁸And they set out from before Hahiroth^[c] and ^(CJ)passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they ^(CK)went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. ⁹And they set out from Marah and came to ^(CL)Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. ¹⁰And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. ¹¹And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in ^(CM)the wilderness of Sin. ¹²And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. ¹³And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴And they set out from Alush and camped at ^(CN)Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. ¹⁵And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the ^(CO)wilderness of Sinai. ¹⁶And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at ^(CP)Kibroth-hattaavah. ¹⁷And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at ^(CQ)Hazeroth. ¹⁸And they ^(CR)set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. ²⁰And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. ²¹And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²²And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. ²³And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. ²⁷And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. ²⁸And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. ²⁹And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. ³¹And they set out from Moseroth and camped at ^(CS)Bene-jaakan. ³²And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at ^(CT)Hor-haggidgad. ³³And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at ^(CU)Jotbathah. ³⁴And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵And they set out from Abronah and camped at ^(CV)Ezion-geber. ³⁶And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the ^(CW)wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). ³⁷And they set out from ^(CX)Kadesh and camped at ^(CY)Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸And Aaron the priest went up ^(CZ)Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. ³⁹And Aaron was ^(DA)123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰And ^(DB)the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

⁴¹And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴²And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³And they set out from Punon and camped at ^(DC)Oboth. ⁴⁴And they set out from Oboth and camped at ^(DD)Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. ⁴⁵And they set out from Iyim and camped at ^(DE)Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. ⁴⁷And they set out from Almon-diblathaim ^(DF)and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. ⁴⁸And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in ^(DG)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; ⁴⁹they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as ^(DH)Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

Drive Out the Inhabitants

⁵⁰And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁵¹“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(DI)When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵²then ^(DJ)you shall drive out ^(DK)all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their ^(DL)figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. ⁵³And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. ⁵⁴^(DM)You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. ^(DN)To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. ⁵⁵But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as ^(DO)barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. ⁵⁶And I will do to you ^(DP)as I thought to do to them.”