Numbers 31:1-18 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

Numbers 31:1-18

Vengeance on Midian

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “^aTake full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be ^bgathered to your people.” 3 And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may ¹go against Midian to execute ^aYahweh’s vengeance on Midian. 4 One thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” 5 So there were ¹furnished from the thousands of Israel, one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them, one thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, ^aand the holy vessels and ^bthe trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 So they made war against Midian, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, and ^athey killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: ^aEvi and Rekem and ^bZur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed ^cBalaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods they plundered. 10 Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire. 11 ^aAnd they took all the spoil and all the loot, both of man and of beast. 12 And they brought the captives and the loot 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 by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 So Moses said to them, “Have you ¹spared ^aall the women? 16 ^aBehold, these ¹caused the sons of Israel, through the word of ^bBalaam, to ²act unfaithfully against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh. 17 ^aSo now, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man ¹intimately. 18 But all the ¹girls who have not known man ²intimately, ³spare for yourselves.