Numbers 31:1-24 - War Against The Midianites

¹ And LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² Avenge the sons of Israel of the Midianites. Afterward thou shall be gathered to thy people.

³ And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute LORD's vengeance on Midian. ⁴ From every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, ye shall 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 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 And they warred against Midian as LORD commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁸ And they killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹ And the sons 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 And all their cities in the places in which they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire. ¹¹ And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast. ¹² And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹³ And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the rulers of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. ¹⁵ And Moses said to them, Have ye saved all the women alive? ¹⁶ Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of LORD. ¹⁷ Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that has known man by lying with him. ¹⁸ But all the women-children, who have not known man by laying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

¹⁹ And encamp ye outside the camp seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives. ²⁰ 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 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which LORD has commanded Moses: ²² only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead-- ²³ everything which may go into 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 may not go into fire ye shall make to go through the water. ²⁴ And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.