Numbers 31:1-24 - War Against The Midianites

¹ And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, ² Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites -- afterwards thou art gathered unto thy people.'

³ And Moses speaketh unto the people, saying, 'Be ye armed some of you for the host, and they are against Midian, to put the vengeance of Jehovah on Midian; ⁴ a thousand for a tribe -- a thousand for a tribe, to all the tribes of Israel -- ye do send to the host.' ⁵ And there are given out of the thousands of Israel a thousand for a tribe, twelve thousand armed ones of the host; ⁶ and Moses sendeth them, a thousand for a tribe, to the host, them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the host; and the holy vessels, and the trumpets of the shouting, in his hand.

⁷ And they war against Midian, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses, and slay every male; ⁸ and the kings of Midian they have slain, besides their pierced ones, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam son of Beor, they have slain with the sword. ⁹ And the sons of Israel take captive the women of Midian, and their infants; and all their cattle, and all their substance, and all their wealth they have plundered; ¹⁰ and all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, they have burnt with fire. ¹¹ And they take all the spoil, and all the prey, among man and among beast; ¹² and they bring in, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the company of the sons of Israel, the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto the camp, unto the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan, near Jericho.

¹³ And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the company, go out to meet them, unto the outside of the camp, ¹⁴ and Moses is wroth against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the host of the battle. ¹⁵ And Moses saith unto them, 'Have ye kept alive every female? ¹⁶ lo, they -- they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the company of Jehovah. ¹⁷ 'And now, slay ye every male among the infants, yea, every woman known of man by the lying of a male ye have slain; ¹⁸ and all the infants among the women, who have not known the lying of a male, ye have kept alive for yourselves.

¹⁹ And ye, encamp ye at the outside of the camp seven days -- any who hath slain a person, and any who hath come against a pierced one, ye cleanse yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day -- ye and your captives; ²⁰ and every garment, and every skin vessel, and every work of goats' hair, and every wooden vessel, ye yourselves cleanse.'

²¹ And Eleazar the priest saith unto the men of the host who go in to battle, 'This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses: ²² only, the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ every thing which may go into fire, ye cause to pass over through fire, and it hath been clean; only, with the water of separation it is cleansed, and all that may not go into fire, ye cause to pass over through water; ²⁴ and ye have washed your garments on the seventh day, and have been clean, and afterwards ye come in unto the camp.'