Numbers 31

¹And the Lord spak to Moyses, and seide,

²Venge thou firste the sones of Israel of Madianytis, and so thou schalt be gaderid to thi puple.

³And anoon Moises seide, Arme ye men of you to batel, that moun take of Madianytis the veniaunce of the Lord.

⁴Of ech lynage be chosun a thousynde men of Israel, that schulen be sent to batel.

⁵And of ech lynage thei yauen a thousynde, that is twelue thousynde of men, redi to batel;

⁶whiche Moises sente with Fynees, the sone of Eleazar, preest. And he bitook to hem hooli vesselis, and trumpis to make sown.

⁷And whanne thei hadden fouyt ayens Madianytis, and hadden ouercome, thei killiden alle the malis,

⁸and `the kyngis of hem, Euy, and Reem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, fyue princes of `the folc of hem. Also thei killiden bi swerd Balaam, the sone of Beor.

⁹And thei token the wymmen of hem, and the litle children, and alle beestis, and al purtenaunce of howshold; what euer thei myyten haue, thei spuyleden;

¹⁰flawme brente as wel citees, as litle townes and castels.

¹¹And they token pray, and alle thingis whiche thei hadden take, as wel of men as of beestis, and thei brouyten to Moyses,

¹²and to Eleazar, preest, and to al the multitude of the sones of Israel. Forsothe thei baren othere `thingis perteynynge to vss, to the castels in the feldi places of Moab bisidis Jordan, ayens Jericho.

¹³Moises and Eleazar, preest, and alle the princes of the synagoge, yeden out in to the comyng of hem, with out the castels, `that is, of the tabernacle.

¹⁴And Moises was wrooth to the princes of the oost, to tribunes, and centuriouns, that camen fro batel;

¹⁵and he seide, Whi reserueden ye wymmen?

¹⁶whether it be not these that disseyueden the sones of Israel, at the suggestioun of Balaam, and maden you to do trespas ayens the Lord, on the synne of Phegor, wherfor also the puple was slayn?

¹⁷And therfor sle ye alle men, what euer thing is of male kynde, and litle children; and strangle ye the wymmen that knew men fleischli;

¹⁸forsothe reserue ye to you damesels, and alle wymmen virgyns,

¹⁹and dwelle ye with out the castels in seuene daies. He that sleeth a man, ether touchith a slayn man, schal be clensid in the thridde and the seuenthe dai;

²⁰and of al the pray, whether it is clooth, ether vessel, and ony thing maad redi in to thingis perteynynge to vss, of the skynnys and heeris of geet, and `of tre, it schal be clensid.

²¹And Eleazar, preest, spak thus to the men of the oost that fouyten, This is the comaundement of the lawe, which the Lord comaundide to Moises,

²²The gold, and siluer, and bras, and yrun, and tiyn, and leed, and al thing that may passe by flawme, schal be purgid bi fier;

²³sotheli what euer thing may not suffre fier, schal be halewid bi the watir of clensyng.

²⁴And ye schulen waische youre clothis in the seuenthe dai, and ye schulen be clensid; and aftirward ye schulen entre in to the castels `of the tabernacle.

²⁵And the Lord seide to Moises, Take ye the summe of tho thingis that ben takun, fro man `til to beeste,

²⁶thou, and Eleazar, preest, and alle the princes of the comyn puple.

²⁷And thou schalt departe euenli the prey bytwixe hem that fouyten and yeden out to batel, and bitwixe al the multitude.

²⁸And thou schalt departe a part to the Lord, of hem that fouyten, and weren in batel, `o soule of fiue hundrid, as wel of men, as of oxun, and of assis, and of scheep.

²⁹And thou schalt yyue `that part to Eleazar, preest, for tho ben the firste fruytis of the Lord.

³⁰Also of the myddil part of the sones of Israel, thou schalt take the fiftithe heed of men, and of oxun, and of assis, and of scheep, and of alle lyuynge beestis; and thou schalt yyue tho to the dekenes, that waken in the kepyngis of the tabernacle of the Lord.

³¹And Moyses and Eleazar diden, as the Lord comaundide.

³²Forsothe the prey which the oost hadde take, was sixe hundrid fyue and seuenti thousynde of scheep,

³³of oxun two and seuenti thousynde,

³⁴of assis sixti thousynde and a thousynde;

³⁵the soules of persones of femal kynde, that knewen not fleischli men, two and thretti thousynde.

³⁶And the myddil part was youun to hem that weren in the batel, of scheep thre hundrid seuene and thretti thousynde and fyue hundrid;

³⁷of whiche sixe hundrid fyue and seuenti scheep weren noumbrid in to the part of the Lord;

³⁸and of sixe and thretti thousynde oxun,

³⁹two and seuenti oxun, and of thretti thousynde assis and fyue hundryd, oon and sixti assis;

⁴⁰of sixtene thousynde persoones of men, twei and thretti persoones bifelden in to the `part of the Lord.

⁴¹And Moises bitook the noumbre of the firste fruytis of the Lord to Eleazar, preest, as it was comaundid to hym,

⁴²of the myddil part of the sones of Israel, which he departide to hem that weren in batel.

⁴³And of the myddil part that bifelde to the tother multitude, that is, of thre hundrid seuene and thretti thousynde scheep and fyue hundrid,

⁴⁴and of sixe and thretti thousynde oxun,

⁴⁵and of thretti thousynde assis and fyue hundrid, and of sixtene thousynde wymmen,

⁴⁶Moyses took the fyftithe heed,

⁴⁷and yaf to the dekenes, that wakiden in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord comaundide.

⁴⁸And whanne the princes of the oost, and the tribunes and centuriouns hadden neiyed to Moises,

⁴⁹thei seiden, We thi seruauntis han teld the noumbre of fiyters, whiche we hadden vndur oure hoond, and sotheli not oon failide;

⁵⁰for which cause we offren `in the fre yiftis of the Lord, alle bi vs silf, that that we myyten fynde of gold in the pray, girdelis for `the myddil of wymmen, and bies of the armes, and ryngis, and ournementis of the arm nyy the hond, and bies of the neckis of wymmen, that thou preye the Lord for vs.

⁵¹And Moises and Eleazar, preest, token al the gold in dyuerse spices,

⁵²`ether kyndis, bi the weiyte of the seyntuarye, sixtene thousynde seuene hundrid and fifti siclis, of the tribunes, and centuriouns.

⁵³For that that ech man rauyschide in the prey, was his owne;

⁵⁴and thei baren the gold taken in to the tabernacle of witnessyng, in to the mynde of the sones of Israel, bifor the Lord.

Numbers 31

¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

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

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

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

⁶And 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.

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

⁸And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that 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.

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

¹⁰And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.

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

¹²And 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 Jordan near Jericho.

¹³And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

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

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

¹⁶Behold, 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.

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

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

¹⁹And do ye abide without 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.

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

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

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

²³Every 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.

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

²⁵And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁶Take 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:

²⁷And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:

²⁸And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which 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:

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

³⁰And 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, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

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

³²And 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,

³³And threescore and twelve thousand beeves,

³⁴And threescore and one thousand asses,

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

³⁶And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⁴⁴And thirty and six thousand beeves,

⁴⁵And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,

⁴⁶And sixteen thousand persons;)

⁴⁷Even 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, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:

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

⁵⁰We 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.

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

⁵²And all the gold of 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.)

⁵⁴And 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.