Numbers 31:1-24 - War Against The Midianites

¹ And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, ² Avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.

³ And Moses spoke to the people saying, Arm some of yourselves to the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge Jehovah on Midian. ⁴ You shall send to the war a thousand from every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel. 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 to the war, a thousand of every tribe. He sent 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 And they warred against the Midianites, as Jehovah commanded Moses. And they killed all the males. ⁸ And they killed the kings of Midian, besides the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹ And the sons of Israel took all the women of Midian captive, and their little ones, and the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰ And they burned with fire all their cities, their homes, and all their towers. ¹¹ And they took all the spoil and all the prey of men and animals. 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 beside 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 over thousands and captains over hundreds, who came from the battle. ¹⁵ And Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive? ¹⁶ Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and the plague was on the congregation of Jehovah. ¹⁷ And now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that has known man by lying with him. ¹⁸ But all the female children that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

¹⁹ And stay outside the camp seven days. Whosoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any dead one, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. ²⁰ And purify all clothing, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood.

²¹ And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to battle, This is the ordinance of the law which Jehovah commanded Moses. ²² Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ everything that can stand the fire, you shall make go through the fire, and it shall be clean. Only it shall be purified with the water of separation. And all that cannot stand the fire you shall make go through the water. ²⁴ And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean, and afterwards you shall come into the camp.