Numbers 31
The Lord instructed Moses to avenge the Israelites against the Midianites, and 12,000 men were chosen for battle. They killed all the Midianite men, including their kings and Balaam, and took their women, children, and goods as spoils. Moses was angry that the women who had caused the Israelites to sin were spared, and he ordered that all the males and women who had known men be killed, while the young girls were reserved for the Israelites. The spoils were purified and divided among the warriors and the rest of the Israelites, with a portion set aside for the Lord and the Levites.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying"First, avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites, and then you shall be gathered to your people.And immediately Moses said: "Arm the men among you for a battle, so that they may be able to fulfill the retribution of the Lord on the MidianitesLet one thousand men be chosen from each tribe of Israel, who shall be sent to war.And they gave one thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand foot soldiers for battleAnd Moses sent them with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest; also, he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to soundAnd when they had fought against the Midianites and had prevailed, they killed all the menAnd they put to death by the sword their kings: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five leaders of the nation, and also Balaam the son of BeorAnd they seized their women and little ones, and all their cattle, and all their goods; whatever they were able to have, they despoiledBoth their cities and their villages, as well as their fortresses, they burnedAnd they carried away prey from everything that they had seized, both of men and of beastsAnd they led these to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. But the remainder of the articles they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, next to the Jordan, opposite JerichoThen Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them beyond the campAnd Moses, being angry with the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had arrived from the battlesaid: "Why have you spared the femalesAre not these the ones who deceived the sons of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam, and who caused you betray the Lord by the sin of Peor, because of which the people also were struck downTherefore, put to death all of them: whatever is of the male sex, even among the little ones, and cut the throats of those women who have known men by sexual relationsBut the young girls, and all female virgins, reserve for yourselvesAnd remain beyond the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a man, or who has touched one that was killed, shall be purified on the third day and on the seventh dayAnd all of the spoils, whether it is a garment, or a vessel, or another useful thing, made from the pelts or hair of goats, or from wood, shall be expiated.Likewise, Eleazar the priest spoke in this manner to the men of the army who had fought: "This is the precept of the law, which the Lord has commanded MosesGold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tinand all that may be able to pass through fire, shall be purified by fire. But whatever is not able to sustain fire shall be sanctified with the waters of expiationAnd you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and, after having been purified, you shall enter the camp.And the Lord also said to Moses"Take the sum of those things which were captured, from man even to beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the common peopleAnd you shall divide the prey equally, among those who went out to war and fought, and among the remainder of the multitudeAnd you shall separate a portion for the Lord from the portion of those who fought and were in the battle: one soul out of five hundred, as much from humans, as from oxen and donkeys and sheepAnd you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because these are the first-fruits of the LordLikewise, from the half of the portion belonging to the sons of Israel, you shall receive the fiftieth head of humans, and of oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and of all living things, and you shall give these to the Levites who stand watch over the care of the tabernacle of the Lord.And Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had instructedNow the prey which the army had seized was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheepseventy-two thousand oxensixty-one thousand donkeysand thirty-two thousand human lives, of the female sex, who had not known menAnd one half of the portion was given to those who had been in the battle: three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheepFrom these, for the portion of the Lord, there were accounted: six hundred seventy-five sheepand from the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxenfrom the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, sixty-one donkeysFrom the sixteen thousand human souls, there fell to the portion of the Lord thirty-two soulsAnd Moses delivered the number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as had been commanded of himfrom the one half portion belonging to the sons of Israel, which he had separated from the portion of those who had been in the battleYet truly, from the one half portion which fell to the remainder of the multitude, that is, from the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheepand from the thirty-six thousand oxenand from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeysand from the sixteen thousand personsMoses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites who stand watch at the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had instructedAnd when the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions had approached Moses, they said"We, your servants, have taken a census of the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and indeed not one was lackingFor this reason, we offer as gifts to the Lord whatever gold each one was able to find amid the spoils, in anklets and arm bands, rings and bracelets, and little chains, so that you may intercede for us to the Lord.And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in its various kindsweighing sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels, from the tribunes and the centurionsFor whatever each one had taken away in the spoils was his ownAnd having been accepted, they took it into the tabernacle of the testimony, as a memorial of the sons of Israel before the Lord
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