Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 The LORD spoke to Moses:
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God spoke to Moses:
2 Take just reparations for the Israelites from the Midianites. Afterward you will join your ancestors.
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"Avenge the People of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you will go to be with your dead ancestors."
3 Moses spoke to the people: "Equip some of your men for battle so that they may go against Midian and execute the LORD's just punishment against Midian.
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Moses addressed the people: "Recruit men for a campaign against Midian, to exact God's vengeance on Midian,
4 You will send out for battle one thousand from each of the tribes of Israel."
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a thousand from each tribe of Israel to go to war."
5 From the thousands of Israel, one thousand from each tribe were selected. Twelve thousand were equipped for battle.
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A fighting force of a thousand from each tribe of Israel - twelve thousand in all - was recruited.
6 Moses sent them to battle, one thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas, Eleazar the priest's son, who carried the sanctuary equipment and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his hand.
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Moses sent them off to war, a thousand from each tribe, and also Phinehas son of Eleazar, who went as priest to the army, in charge of holy vessels and the signaling bugles.
7 They battled against Midian as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
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They attacked Midian, just as God had commanded Moses, and killed every last man.
8 They killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian, along with others slain. They also killed Balaam, Beor's son, with the sword.
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Among the fallen were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba - the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
9 The Israelites took captive the Midianite women, their little ones, all their cattle, their herds, and their possessions.
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The People of Israel took the Midianite women and children captive and took all their animals and herds and goods as plunder.
10 They burned all the cities where they lived and their encampments.
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They burned to the ground all the towns in which Midianites lived and also their tent camps.
11 They took all the spoils of war and the valuable property, both human and animal,
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They looted and plundered everything and everyone - stuff and people and animals.
12 and they brought the captives, the valuable property, and the spoils of war to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite community, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
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They took it all - captives and booty and plunder - back to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the company of Israel where they were camped on the Plains of Moab, at Jordan-Jericho.
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs of the community went to meet them outside the camp.
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Moses, Eleazar, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet the returning army outside the camp.
14 Moses became angry with the commanders of the army, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, who came back from the battle.
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Moses was furious with the army officers - the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds - as they came back from the battlefield:
15 Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live?
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"What's this! You've let these women live!
16 These very women, on Balaam's advice, made the Israelites break faith with the LORD in the affair at Peor, so there was a plague among the LORD's community.
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They're the ones who, under Balaam's direction, seduced the People of Israel away from God in that mess at Peor, causing the plague that hit God's people.
17 Now kill every male child and every female who has known a man intimately by sleeping with him.
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Finish your job: kill all the boys. Kill every woman who has slept with a man.
18 But all the young girls who have not known a man intimately by sleeping with him, spare for yourselves.
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The younger women who are virgins you can keep alive for yourselves.
19 You will remain outside the camp for seven days. Everyone among you or your captives who has killed a person or touched a corpse must purify themselves on the third and seventh days.
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"Now here's what you are to do: Pitch tents outside the camp. All who have killed anyone or touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. Purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days.
20 You must also purify every garment, and everything made of leather, goats' hair, or wood."
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Purify every piece of clothing and every utensil - everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood."
21 Eleazar the priest said to the men of battle who had gone out to war, "This is the regulation in the Instruction that the LORD commanded Moses:
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Eleazar the priest then spoke to the soldiers who had fought in the battle: "This is the ruling from the Revelation that God gave Moses:
22 Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead—
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Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead
23 anything that can withstand fire—you will put through the fire and it will be clean. It will also be purified with the water of purification. Anything that isn't able to withstand fire, you will immerse in water.
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- and anything else that can survive fire - must be passed through the fire; then it will be ritually purified. It must also be ritually washed in the Water-of-Cleansing. Further, whatever cannot survive fire must be put through that water.
24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day and you will be clean. Afterward you may enter the camp."
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On the seventh day scrub your clothes; you will be ritually clean. Then you can return to camp."
25 The LORD said to Moses:
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God said to Moses,
26 You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community's households must take an inventory of the valuable property and the captives, both human and animals,
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"I want you and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders in the community to count the captives, people and animals.
27 and divide the valuable property between the warriors who went into battle and the entire community.
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Split the plunder between the soldiers who fought the battle and the rest of the congregation.
28 You will offer as tribute to the LORD from each warrior who went into battle one living being in five hundred, whether human, oxen, donkeys, or flocks.
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"Then tax the booty that goes to the soldiers at the rate of one life out of five hundred, whether humans, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.
29 Take it from the warriors' half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a gift offering to the LORD.
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It's a God-tax taken from their half-share to be turned over to Eleazar the priest on behalf of God.
30 But from the Israelites' half you will take one out of every fifty, whether from human, oxen, donkeys, or flock—all the animals. You will give them to the Levites who carry out the duties of the LORD's dwelling.
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Tax the congregation's half-share at the rate of one life out of fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, or other animals. Give this to the Levites who are in charge of the care of God's Dwelling."
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
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Moses and Eleazar followed through with what God had commanded Moses.
32 The valuable property remaining from the spoils of war that the people of the army had taken was 675,000 sheep,
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The rest of the plunder taken by the army: 675,000 sheep
33 72,000 oxen,
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72,000 cattle
34 61,000 donkeys,
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61,000 donkeys
35 and 32,000 women who hadn't known a man intimately by sleeping with him.
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32,000 women who were virgins
36 The half-share of those who had gone out to battle numbered 337,500 sheep,
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The half-share for those who had fought in the war:
37 of which the LORD's tribute was 675.
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with a tax of 675 for God
38 The oxen were 36,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 72.
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36,000 cattle, with a tax of 72 for God
39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD's tribute was 61.
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30,500 donkeys, with a tax of 61 for God
40 Humans were 16,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 32 persons.
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16,000 people, with a tax of 32 for God
41 Moses gave the tribute, a gift offering for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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Moses turned the tax over to Eleazar the priest as God's part, following God's instructions to Moses.
42 As for the half-share of the Israelites that Moses divided from those who had gone out to battle:
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The other half-share for the Israelite community that Moses set apart from what was given to the men who fought the war was:
43 the community's half-share was 337,500 sheep,
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337,500 sheep
44 36,000 oxen,
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36,000 cattle
45 30,500 donkeys,
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30,500 donkeys
46 and 16,000 humans.
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16,000 people
47 Moses took from the Israelites' half one out of every fifty, from humans and animals. He gave them to the Levites who carry out the duties of the LORD's dwelling, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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From the half-share going to the People of Israel, Moses, just as God had instructed him, picked one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites, who were in charge of maintaining God's Dwelling.
48 The commanders over the thousands of the army, officers over thousands and officers over hundreds, approached Moses
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The military officers - commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds - came to Moses
49 and said to Moses, "Your servants have counted the warriors in our charge and not one of us is missing.
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and said, "We have counted the soldiers under our command and not a man is missing.
50 We have brought the LORD's offering that each found, gold articles—anklets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces—to seek reconciliation for ourselves before the LORD."
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We've brought offerings to God from the gold jewelry we got - armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, ornaments - to make atonement for our lives before God."
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took all the gold articles from them.
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Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all that fine-crafted jewelry.
52 All the gold for the gift offering that was presented to the LORD from the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.
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In total, the gold from the commanders of thousands and hundreds that Moses and Eleazar offered as a gift to God weighed about six hundred pounds,
53 Each of the men of battle took spoils of war for himself.
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all donated by the soldiers who had taken the booty.
54 Yet Moses and Eleazar the priest also received the gold from the officers of thousands and of hundreds, and they brought it to the meeting tent as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.
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Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the commanders of thousands and hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, to serve as a reminder for the People of Israel before God.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.