1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Take vengeance for the children of Israel on the Midianites. After that you will be gathered to your people."
3 So Moses said to the people, "Equip some of your men for war, to go against Midian and carry out the LORD's vengeance on Midian.
4 Send to the war a thousand from each tribe, from every tribe of Israel."
5 So from the thousands of Israel a thousand were supplied from each tribe, twelve thousand equipped for war.
6 Moses sent them to war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the holy utensils and the trumpets for sounding the signal.
7 They fought against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male.
8 Along with the rest of the slain they killed the kings of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword.
9 The children of Israel took the women of Midian and their little ones captive and carried off as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their wealth.
10 They set fire to all the towns where they lived and all their encampments,
11 and took all the booty and all the spoil, both people and animals.
12 They brought the captives, the spoil, and the booty to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the chiefs of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp.
14 Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the campaign.
15 "Have you kept all the women alive?" Moses asked them.
16 "Why, these are the very ones who, on Balaam's advice, led the children of Israel to be unfaithful to the LORD in the matter of Peor, so that the plague struck the LORD's congregation.
17 So now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has slept with a man.
18 But keep alive for yourselves all the girls who have not slept with a man.
19 As for you, stay outside the camp for seven days. Every one of you who has killed anyone or touched anyone slain must purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
20 Purify every garment, every article of leather, everything made of goats' hair, and every article of wood."
21 Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, "This is the statute of the law the LORD has commanded Moses:
22 the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead—
23 whatever can withstand fire—you must put through the fire, and it will be clean; but it must also be purified with the water for impurity. Whatever cannot withstand fire you must put through the water.
24 On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean; after that you may come into the camp."
25 The LORD said to Moses,
26 "You, Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation are to count the spoil that was captured, both people and animals.
27 Divide the spoil in half between the fighting men who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.
28 From the soldiers who went out to battle, set apart a levy for the LORD: one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys, or flocks.
29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD.
30 From the half belonging to the children of Israel, take one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, or flocks—any of the animals—and give them to the Levites who have charge of the LORD's tabernacle."
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
32 The spoil, what was left of the booty the soldiers had taken, came to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 seventy-two thousand cattle,
34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,
35 and thirty-two thousand people in all, women who had not slept with a man.
36 The half that was the share of those who had gone out to war came to three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
37 of which the levy for the LORD was six hundred and seventy-five;
38 thirty-six thousand cattle, of which the levy for the LORD was seventy-two;
39 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, of which the levy for the LORD was sixty-one;
40 and sixteen thousand people, of which the levy for the LORD was thirty-two people.
41 Moses gave the levy, the LORD's contribution, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
42 From the half belonging to the children of Israel, which Moses had set apart from that of the men who had fought—
43 the congregation's half came to three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 thirty-six thousand cattle,
45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46 and sixteen thousand people—
47 from this half belonging to the children of Israel Moses took one out of every fifty, of people and of animals, and gave them to the Levites who had charge of the LORD's tabernacle, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
48 Then the officers over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, came to Moses
49 and said to him, "Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing.
50 So we have brought as an offering to the LORD what each man found—gold articles, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD."
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from them, all of it worked into articles.
52 All the gold of the contribution they set aside for the LORD from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds came to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
53 (Each of the soldiers had taken spoil for himself.)
54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.