New International Reader's Version NIRV
New King James Version NKJV
1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,
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And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 "Pay the people of Midian back for what they did to the Israelites. After that, you will join the members of your family who have already died."
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"Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people."
3 So Moses said to the people, "Prepare some of your men for battle. They must go to war against Midian. They will carry out the LORD's plan to punish Midian.
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So Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian.
4 Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel into battle."
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A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war."
5 So Moses prepared 12,000 men for battle. There were 1,000 from each tribe. They came from the families of Israel.
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So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 Moses sent them into battle. He sent 1,000 from each tribe. The priest Phinehas went along with them. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar. Phinehas took some articles from the sacred tent with him. He also took the trumpets. The trumpet blasts would tell the people what to do and when to do it.
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Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand.
7 They fought against Midian, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. They killed every man.
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And they warred against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed all the males.
8 Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba were among the men they killed. Those men were the five kings of Midian. The people of Israel also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with a sword.
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They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed--Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
9 They captured the women and children of Midian. They took for themselves all of the herds, flocks and goods.
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And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods.
10 They burned up all of the towns where the people of Midian had settled. They also burned up all of their camps.
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They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts.
11 They carried off everything they had taken. That included the people and the animals.
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And they took all the spoil and all the booty--of man and beast.
12 They brought back to Israel's camp the prisoners and everything else they had taken. They took them to Moses and to the priest Eleazar. They brought them to the whole community. Israel was camped on the flatlands of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho.
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Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
13 Moses and the priest Eleazar went to meet them outside the camp. So did all of the leaders of the community.
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And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp.
14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army who had returned from the battle. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds.
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But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
15 "Have you let all of the women remain alive?" Moses asked them.
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And Moses said to them: "Have you kept all the women alive?
16 "The women followed Balaam's advice. They caused the people of Israel to turn away from the Lord. The people worshiped the god Baal that was worshiped at Peor. So a plague struck them.
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Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
17 Kill all of the boys. And kill every woman who has made love to a man.
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Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately.
18 But save for yourselves every woman who has never made love to a man.
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But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.
19 "All of you who have killed anyone must stay outside the camp for seven days. And all of you who have touched anyone who was killed must do the same thing. On the third and seventh days you must make yourselves pure. You must also make your prisoners pure.
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And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.
20 Make all of your clothes pure and clean. Everything that is made out of leather, goat hair or wood must be made pure."
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Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats' hair, and everything made of wood."
21 Then the priest Eleazar spoke to the soldiers who had gone into battle. He said, "Here is what the law the LORD gave Moses requires.
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Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, "This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses:
22 All of your gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead
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Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 must be put through fire. So must everything else that doesn't burn up. Then those things will be 'clean.' But they must also be made pure with the special water. In fact, everything that won't burn up must be put through that water.
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everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water.
24 On the seventh day wash your clothes. And you will be 'clean.' Then you can come into the camp."
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And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp."
25 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,
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Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
26 "Here is what you and the priest Eleazar and the family heads of the community must do. You must count all of the people and animals you took.
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"Count up the plunder that was taken--of man and beast--you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation;
27 Divide up some of what you took with the soldiers who fought in the battle. Divide up the rest with the others in the community.
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and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
28 "Set apart a gift for me. Take something from the soldiers who fought in the battle. Set apart one out of every 500 people, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats.
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And levy a tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep;
29 Take my gift from the soldiers' half. Give it to the priest Eleazar. It is my share.
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take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord.
30 "Also take something from the half that belongs to the people of Israel. Choose one out of every 50 people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites. They are accountable for taking care of my holy tent."
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And from the children of Israel's half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord."
31 So Moses and the priest Eleazar did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 What the soldiers took included 675,000 sheep.
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The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 There were also 72,000 cattle
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seventy-two thousand cattle,
34 and 61,000 donkeys.
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sixty-one thousand donkeys,
35 And there were 32,000 women who had never made love to a man.
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and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately.
36 Here is the half that belonged to those who had fought in the battle. There were 337,500 sheep.
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And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep;
37 From among them, the LORD's gift was 675.
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and the Lord's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.
38 There were 36,000 cattle. From among them, the LORD's gift was 72.
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The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was seventy-two.
39 There were 30,500 donkeys. From among them, the LORD's gift was 61.
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The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord's tribute was sixty-one.
40 There were 16,000 women. From among them, the LORD's gift was 32.
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The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was thirty-two persons.
41 Moses gave the gift to the priest Eleazar. It was the LORD's share. Moses did just as the LORD had commanded him.
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So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord's heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 The other half belonged to the people of Israel. Moses set it apart from what belonged to the fighting men.
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And from the children of Israel's half, which Moses separated from the men who fought--
43 The community's half was 337,500 sheep,
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now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 36,000 cattle,
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thirty-six thousand cattle,
45 30,500 donkeys
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thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46 and 16,000 women.
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and sixteen thousand persons--
47 Moses chose one out of every 50 people and animals. He gave them to the Levites. They were accountable for taking care of the LORD's holy tent. Moses did just as the LORD had commanded him.
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and from the children of Israel's half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
48 Then the army officers went to Moses. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds.
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Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses;
49 All of them said to Moses, "We have counted the soldiers under our command. Not a single one is missing.
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and they said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing.
50 "So we've brought an offering to the Lord. We've brought the gold articles each of us took in the battle. We've also brought armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings and necklaces. We've brought them to pay for our sin in the sight of the Lord."
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Therefore we have brought an offering for the Lord, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord."
51 Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted the beautiful gold articles from the army officers.
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So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments.
52 The gold that was received from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds weighed 420 pounds. Moses and Eleazar offered all of it as a gift to the Lord.
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And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
53 Each soldier had taken things from the battle for himself.
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(The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)
54 Moses and the priest Eleazar accepted the gold from all of the commanders. They brought it into the Tent of Meeting. It reminded the LORD of the people of Israel.
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And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.