The Holy War against Midian

¹The Lord said to Moses,

²“Punish the Midianites for what they did to the people of Israel. After you have done that, you will die.”

³So Moses said to the people, “Get ready for war, so that you can attack Midian and punish them for what they did to the Lord.

⁴From each tribe of Israel send a thousand men to war.”

⁵So a thousand men were chosen from each tribe, a total of twelve thousand men ready for battle.

⁶Moses sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took charge of the sacred objects and the trumpets for giving signals.

⁷They attacked Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed all the men,

⁸including the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor.

⁹The people of Israel captured the Midianite women and children, took their cattle and their flocks, plundered all their wealth,

¹⁰and burned all their cities and camps.

¹¹They took all the loot that they had captured, including the prisoners and the animals,

¹²and brought them to Moses and Eleazar and to the community of the people of Israel, who were at the camp on the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho.

The Army Returns

¹³Moses, Eleazar, and all the other leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet the army.

¹⁴Moses became angry with the officers, the commanders of battalions and companies, who had returned from the war.

¹⁵He asked them, “Why have you kept all the women alive?

¹⁶Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the Lord. That was what brought the epidemic on the Lord's people.

¹⁷So now kill every boy and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse,

¹⁸but keep alive for yourselves all the girls and all the women who are virgins.

¹⁹Now all of you who have killed anyone or have touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day purify yourselves and the women you have captured.

²⁰You must also purify every piece of clothing and everything made of leather, goats' hair, or wood.”

²¹Eleazar the priest said to the men who had returned from battle, “These are the regulations that the Lord has given to Moses.

^22-23Everything that will not burn, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, is to be purified by passing it through fire. Everything else is to be purified by the water for purification.

²⁴On the seventh day you must wash your clothes; then you will be ritually clean and will be permitted to enter the camp.”

Division of the Loot

²⁵The Lord said to Moses,

²⁶“You and Eleazar, together with the other leaders of the community, are to count everything that has been captured, including the prisoners and the animals.

²⁷Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community.

²⁸From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the Lord one out of every five hundred prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.

²⁹Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the Lord.

³⁰From the part given to the rest of the people, take one out of every fifty prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the Lord's Tent.”

³¹Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded.

^32-35The following is a list of what was captured by the soldiers, in addition to what they kept for themselves: 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins.

^36-40The half share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the Lord; 36,000 cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the Lord; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the Lord; and 16,000 virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the Lord.

⁴¹So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.

^42-46The share of the community was the same as that for the soldiers: 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins.

⁴⁷From this share Moses took one out of every fifty prisoners and animals, and as the Lord had commanded, gave them to the Levites who were in charge of the Lord's Tent.

⁴⁸Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses

⁴⁹and reported, “Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing.

⁵⁰So we are bringing the gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces that each of us has taken. We offer them to the Lord as a payment for our lives, so that he will protect us.”

⁵¹Moses and Eleazar received the gold, all of which was in the form of ornaments.

⁵²The total contribution of the officers weighed over four hundred pounds.

⁵³Those who were not officers kept the loot they had taken.

⁵⁴So Moses and Eleazar took the gold to the Tent, so that the Lord would protect the people of Israel.

Conditions for Restoration and Blessing

¹“I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you.

²If you and your descendants will turn back to the Lord and with all your heart obey his commands that I am giving you today,

³then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again.

⁴Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back,

⁵so that you may again take possession of the land where your ancestors once lived. And he will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors ever were.

⁶The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land.

⁷He will turn all these curses against your enemies, who hated you and oppressed you,

⁸and you will again obey him and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.

⁹The Lord will make you prosperous in all that you do; you will have many children and a lot of livestock, and your fields will produce abundant crops. He will be as glad to make you prosperous as he was to make your ancestors prosperous,

¹⁰but you will have to obey him and keep all his laws that are written in this book of his teachings. You will have to turn to him with all your heart.

¹¹“The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach.

¹²It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, ‘Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?’

¹³Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, ‘Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’

¹⁴No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it.

¹⁵“Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death.

¹⁶If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy.

¹⁷But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods,

¹⁸you will be destroyed—I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy.

¹⁹I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life.

²⁰Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Someone Saved from Death Praises God

¹I love the Lord, because he hears me; he listens to my prayers.

²He listens to me every time I call to him.

³The danger of death was all around me; the horrors of the grave closed in on me; I was filled with fear and anxiety.

⁴Then I called to the Lord, “I beg you, Lord, save me!”

⁵The Lord is merciful and good; our God is compassionate.

⁶The Lord protects the helpless; when I was in danger, he saved me.

⁷Be confident, my heart, because the Lord has been good to me.

⁸The Lord saved me from death; he stopped my tears and kept me from defeat.

⁹And so I walk in the presence of the Lord in the world of the living.

¹⁰I kept on believing, even when I said, “I am completely crushed,”

¹¹even when I was afraid and said, “No one can be trusted.”

¹²What can I offer the Lord for all his goodness to me?

¹³I will bring a wine offering to the Lord, to thank him for saving me.

¹⁴In the assembly of all his people I will give him what I have promised.

¹⁵How painful it is to the Lord when one of his people dies!

¹⁶I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did. You have saved me from death.

¹⁷I will give you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and offer my prayer to you.

^18-19In the assembly of all your people, in the sanctuary of your Temple in Jerusalem, I will give you what I have promised. Praise the Lord!