Numbers 31

Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 Then the Lord said to Moses,

2 Ref Give the Midianites punishment for the wrong they did to the children of Israel: and after that you will go to rest with your people.

3 Ref So Moses said to the people, Let men from among you be armed for war to put into effect against Midian the Lord's punishment on them.

4 Ref From every tribe of Israel send a thousand to the war.

5 So from the thousands of Israel a thousand were taken from every tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war.

6 Ref And Moses sent them out to war, a thousand from every tribe, and with them Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, taking in his hands the vessels of the holy place and the horns for sounding the note of war.

7 Ref And they made war on Midian, as the Lord gave orders to Moses; and they put to death every male.

8 Ref They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword.

9 Ref The women of Midian with their little ones the children of Israel took prisoner; and all their cattle and flocks and all their goods they took for themselves;

10 Ref And after burning all their towns and all their tent-circles,

11 Ref They went away with the goods they had taken, man and beast.

12 Ref And the prisoners and the goods and everything they had taken, they took to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the people of Israel, to the tent-circle in the lowlands of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 Ref Then Moses and Eleazar the priest and the chiefs of the people went out to them before they had come into the tent-circle.

14 Ref And Moses was angry with the chiefs of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come back from the war.

15 Ref And Moses said to them, Why have you kept all the women safe?

16 Ref It was these who, moved by Balaam, were the cause of Israel's sin against the Lord in the question of Peor, because of which disease came on the people of the Lord.

17 Ref So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man.

18 Ref But all the female children who have had no sex relations with men, you may keep for yourselves.

19 Ref You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.

20 Ref And every bit of clothing, and anything made of leather or goats' hair or wood, you are to make clean.

21 Ref Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had been to the fight, This is the rule of the law which the Lord has given to Moses:

22 But gold and silver and brass and iron and tin and lead,

23 Ref And anything which may be heated, is to go through the fire and be made clean; but in addition it is to be put in the water of cleaning: and anything which may not go through the fire is to be put in the water.

24 Ref And on the seventh day, after washing your clothing, you will be clean, and then you may come into the tent-circle.

25 And the Lord said to Moses,

26 Get an account of everything which was taken in the war, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of families of the people:

27 Ref And let division be made of it into two parts, one for the men of war who went out to the fight, and one for all the people:

28 Ref And from the men of war who went out let there be offered to the Lord one out of every five hundred, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep:

29 Ref Take this from their part and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to be lifted up to the Lord.

30 Ref And from the part given to the children of Israel, take one out of every fifty, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep, and give it to the Levites who have the care of the House of the Lord.

31 So Eleazar and Moses did as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

32 Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 And seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 And sixty-one thousand asses;

35 And thirty-two thousand persons, that is, women who had never had sex relations with a man.

36 And the half given as their part to the men who went to the war, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

37 Of which the Lord's part was six hundred and seventy-five.

38 The number of oxen was thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's part was seventy-two;

39 The number of asses was thirty thousand, five hundred, of which the Lord's part was sixty-one.

40 And the number of persons was sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's part was thirty-two persons.

41 Ref And Moses gave the Lord's part, lifted up as an offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

42 And from the half given to the children of Israel, which Moses had kept separate from that given to the fighting-men,

43 (Now the people's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

44 And thirty-six thousand oxen,

45 And thirty thousand, five hundred asses,

46 And sixteen thousand persons;)

47 Ref Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

48 Then the men in authority over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came to Moses,

49 Ref And said to him, Your servants have taken note of the number of all the fighting-men under our orders, and every one is present;

50 Ref And we have here an offering for the Lord from what every man took in the war, ornaments of gold, leg-chains and arm-rings, finger-rings, ear-rings, and neck-ornaments, to make our souls free from sin before the Lord.

51 Ref So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even all the worked ornaments.

52 And the gold which the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds gave, as an offering to be lifted up before the Lord, came to sixteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53 Ref (For every man of the army had taken goods for himself in the war.)

54 Ref Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold given by the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and took it into the Tent of meeting, to be a sign in memory of the children of Israel before the Lord.

American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV)

1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

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

3 Ref And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Jehovah's vengeance on Midian.

4 Ref Of 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 Ref And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

7 Ref And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah commanded Moses; and they slew every male.

8 Ref And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

9 Ref And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.

10 Ref And all their cities in the places wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.

11 Ref And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.

12 Ref And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto 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 at Jericho.

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

14 Ref And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

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

16 Ref Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Jehovah.

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

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

19 Ref And encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.

20 Ref And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' `hair', and all things made of wood, ye shall purify yourselves.

21 Ref And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:

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

23 Ref everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.

24 Ref 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 Jehovah spake 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 heads of the fathers' `houses' of the congregation;

27 Ref and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation.

28 Ref And levy a tribute unto Jehovah of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, `both' of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the flocks:

29 Ref take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for Jehovah's heave-offering.

30 Ref And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, `even' of all the cattle, and give them unto the Levites, that keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.

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

32 Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

33 and threescore and twelve thousand oxen,

34 and threescore and one thousand asses,

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

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

37 and Jehovah's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

38 And the oxen were thirty and six thousand; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and twelve.

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

40 And the persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Jehovah's tribute was thirty and two persons.

41 Ref And Moses gave the tribute, which was Jehovah's heave-offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

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

43 (now the congregation's half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand and five hundred sheep,

44 and thirty and six thousand oxen,

45 and thirty thousand and five hundred asses,

46 and sixteen thousand persons),

47 Ref even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

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

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

50 Ref And we have brought Jehovah's oblation, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.

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

52 And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered up to Jehovah, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53 Ref (`For' the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)

54 Ref And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.

King James Version (KJV)

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

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

3 Ref And 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.

4 Ref Of 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 Ref 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 Ref And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

8 Ref And 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.

9 Ref And 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.

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

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

12 Ref 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 Jordan near Jericho.

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

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

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

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

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

19 Ref And 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.

20 Ref 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 Ref And 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;

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

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

28 Ref And 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:

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

30 Ref 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, which 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 that had not known man by lying with him.

36 And 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:

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 Ref 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 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,

44 And thirty and six thousand beeves,

45 And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,

46 And sixteen thousand persons;)

47 Ref 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, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

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

49 Ref And 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.

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

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

54 Ref 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.

Chapter 31 of 36

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