Numbers 31 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Chapter 31

Israel Battles the Midianites.^{[a] 1} The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Take vengeance upon the Midianites for the people of Israel. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

³ Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of your men for war so that they might go out against the Midianites to execute the Lord’s vengeance upon Midian. ⁴ Send a thousand men to war from each of the tribes of Israel.”

⁵ So they set aside a thousand from each tribe of Israel, twelve thousand armed for battle. ⁶ Moses sent them out to battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Eleazar the priest. He took the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hands. ⁷ They battled against the Midianites, as the Lord had commanded Moses, killing all of the males. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian, along with the others they killed. They also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with the sword.

⁹ The people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods. ¹⁰ They also burned down all the cities in which they dwelt and all their fortresses. ¹¹ They took all the booty and all the spoils, both of man and beast ¹² and brought the captives, the spoils, and the booty to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the assembly of the people of Israel at the camp on the plain of Moab which is near the Jordan, across from Jericho.

¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly met them outside of the camp. ¹⁴ Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of the thousands and the captains of the hundreds, who had returned from battle. ¹⁵ Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? ¹⁶ These are the ones who caused the people of Israel to follow the advice of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the affair of Peor, causing a plague among the assembly of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now kill every boy and kill every woman who has slept with a man, ¹⁸ but save the girls for yourselves who have not yet slept with a man.

¹⁹ Purification after Battle.^[b]“Any of you who has killed a person and anyone who has touched any of those who have been killed must stay outside of the camp for seven days. You are to purify yourself and your captives on the third and the seventh days. ²⁰ Purify all of your clothes as well as all of your leather goods and everything made from goat hair and everything made from wood.”

²¹ Then Eleazar said to the men of war who had gone into battle: “This is a statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses: ²² gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, lead, ²³ and anything else that can withstand fire will be pure if you pass it through fire. However, it must also be purified with the water of purification. Whatever cannot withstand fire must pass through water. ²⁴ You will wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be pure, and you can then enter the camp.”

²⁵ Dividing the Spoils. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^{26 [c]}“You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers’ households are to count the booty, both of man and of beast. ²⁷ Divide the booty into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all of the assembly. ²⁸ Establish a share for the Lord from the men of war who went out into battle: one out of five hundred, of the people, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep.

²⁹ “Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.

³⁰ “From the half share that belongs to the people of Israel, take one out of every fifty, of people, of the cattle, of the donkeys, of the sheep, and of all the animals. Give them to the Levites who have responsibility over the sanctuary of the Lord.”

³¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³² The booty remaining from the spoils that the men of war captured was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, ³³ seventy-two thousand cattle, ³⁴ sixty-one thousand donkeys, ³⁵ and thirty-two thousand girls who had never slept with a man.

³⁶ The half share for those who went out to fight was three hundred thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep, ³⁷ of which the share for the Lord was six hundred seventy-five; ³⁸ thirty-six thousand cattle, of which the share for the Lord was seventy-two; ³⁹ thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, of which the share for the Lord was sixty-one; ⁴⁰ and sixteen thousand people, of which the share for the Lord was thirty-two.

⁴¹ Moses gave the share that was the Lord’s offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴² The half share of the people of Israel, which Moses had divided from that which belonged to the men who had gone to war, ⁴³ that is, the assembly’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep; ⁴⁴ thirty-six thousand cattle; ⁴⁵ thirty thousand, five hundred donkeys; ⁴⁶ and sixteen thousand people. ⁴⁷ From the Israelite half share, Moses took one part for every fifty from man and beast and gave it to the Levites who were responsible for the sanctuary, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ The officers of the army, the captains of the thousands, and the captains of the hundreds, came to Moses. ⁴⁹ They said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our care, not missing one of them. ⁵⁰ We have therefore brought an offering to the Lord from what each man has taken from the gold jewelry, the chains, the bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”

⁵¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all crafted jewelry. ⁵² The entire gold offering that the captains of the thousands and the captains of the hundreds offered to the Lord was sixteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty shekels. ⁵³ (Each of the men of war had taken booty for himself.) ⁵⁴ Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of the thousands and the captains of the hundreds and brought it to the tent of meeting as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 31:1 The story of God’s judgment on the Midianites certainly exaggerates some incidents in the campaign in the Transjordan. The massacre does not spare even the women: the prostitution of the sons of Israel at Baal of Peor (ch. 25) has left a humiliating memory. We must not apply the standard of our gospel morality to these practices of a remote age.
2. Numbers 31:19 The cleansing ritual for anyone who engaged in battle for the Lord extended beyond the person to all things involved.
3. Numbers 31:26 Precise rules are to be followed in dividing the spoils of war and equal provision was to be made for those who fought and those who remained in the community. In addition, a portion was to be dedicated to the Lord in the sanctuary.