CSB

CSB

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
The Blue Letter Bible

Numbers 31 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
War with Midian
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:1 -

The LORD spoke to Moses,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:2 -

“Execute vengeance for the Israelites against the Midianites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:3 -

So Moses spoke to the people, “Equip some of your men for war. They will go against Midian to inflict the LORD’s vengeance on them.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:4 -

“Send one thousand men to war from each Israelite tribe.”

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:5 -

So one thousand were recruited from each Israelite tribe out of the thousands[fn] in Israel ​— ​twelve thousand equipped for war.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:6 -

Moses sent one thousand from each tribe to war. They went with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, in whose care were the holy objects and signal trumpets.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:7 -

They waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:8 -

Along with the others slain by them, they killed the Midianite kings ​— ​Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:9 -

The Israelites took the Midianite women and their dependents captive, and they plundered all their cattle, flocks, and property.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:10 -

Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites lived, as well as all their encampments,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:11 -

and took away all the spoils of war and the captives, both people and animals.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:12 -

They brought the prisoners, animals, and spoils of war to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the Israelite community at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:13 -

Moses, the priest Eleazar, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:14 -

But Moses became furious with the officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the military campaign.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:15 -

“Have you let every female live? ” he asked them.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:16 -

“Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam’s advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the LORD in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the LORD’s community.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:17 -

“So now, kill every male among the dependents and kill every woman who has gone to bed with a man,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:18 -

“but keep alive for yourselves all the young females who have not gone to bed with a man.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:19 -

“You are to remain outside the camp for seven days. All of you and your prisoners who have killed a person or touched the dead are to purify yourselves on the third day and the seventh day.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:20 -

“Also purify everything: garments, leather goods, things made of goat hair, and every article of wood.”

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:21 -

Then the priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had gone to battle, “This is the legal statute the LORD commanded Moses:

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:22 -

“The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead ​— ​

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:23 -

“everything that can withstand fire ​— ​you are to pass through fire, and it will be clean. It must still be purified with the purification water. Anything that cannot withstand fire, pass through the water.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:24 -

“On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:25 -

The LORD told Moses,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:26 -

“You, the priest Eleazar, and the family heads of the community are to take a count of what was captured, people and animals.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:27 -

“Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to war and the entire community.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:28 -

“Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the fighting men who went out to war: one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:29 -

“Take the tribute from their half and give it to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the LORD.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:30 -

“From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty from the people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats, all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who perform the duties of[fn] the LORD’s tabernacle.”

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:31 -

So Moses and the priest Eleazar did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:32 -

The captives remaining from the plunder the army had taken totaled:

675,000 sheep and goats,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:33 -

72,000 cattle,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:34 -

61,000 donkeys,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:35 -

and 32,000 people, all the females who had not gone to bed with a man.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:36 -

The half portion for those who went out to war numbered:

337,500 sheep and goats,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:37 -

and the tribute to the LORD was 675

from the sheep and goats;

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:38 -

from the 36,000 cattle,

the tribute to the LORD was 72;

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:39 -

from the 30,500 donkeys,

the tribute to the LORD was 61;

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:40 -

and from the 16,000 people,

the tribute to the LORD was 32 people.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:41 -

Moses gave the tribute to the priest Eleazar as a contribution for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:42 -

From the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from the men who fought,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:43 -

the community’s half was:

337,500 sheep and goats,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:44 -

36,000 cattle,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:45 -

30,500 donkeys,

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:46 -

and 16,000 people.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:47 -

Moses took one out of every fifty, selected from the people and the livestock of the Israelites’ half. He gave them to the Levites who perform the duties of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD had commanded him.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:48 -

The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, approached Moses

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:49 -

and told him, “Your servants have taken a census of the fighting men under our command, and not one of us is missing.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:50 -

“So we have presented to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man found ​— ​armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces ​— ​to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:51 -

Moses and the priest Eleazar received from them all the articles made out of gold.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:52 -

All the gold of the contribution they offered to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, was 420 pounds.[fn]

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:53 -

Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself.

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 31:54 -

Moses and the priest Eleazar received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

CSB Footnotes
Or clans
Or who protect
Lit  16,750 shekels
CSB

Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
CSB
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
CSB

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan