Min Shu Ji_Chapter 31

The Lord commanded Moses, saying,

You shall avenge the Israelites on the Midianites, and later return them to your own people.

Moses commanded the people to send out weapons from among you to attack Midian, so that they may avenge the Lord on the Midianites.

From all the tribes of Israel, each tribe shall send a thousand to go to war.

So out of the millions of Israelites, one thousand were handed over from each tribe, totaling twelve thousand, armed for war.

Moses sent a thousand people from each tribe to fight, and also sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, with him. Phinehas held the vessels of the sanctuary and a loud trumpet in his hand.

They fought against the Midianites and killed all the males, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Among the people who were killed, they killed the five kings of Midian, namely Evi, Rekkim, Zur, Hur, and Reba, and also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

The Israelites captured the women and children of the Midianites, and took their livestock, flocks, and all their possessions as plunder,

And he burned the cities where they lived and all their camps with fire,

And he took away all that was taken, and all that was taken, both man and beast,

Bring the captives, livestock, and goods to the plains of Moab, and deliver them to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the assembly of Israel in the camp opposite Jericho by the Jordan River.

Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp.

Moses was angry with the commanders of the army who returned from the war, namely the commanders of thousands and hundreds,

Tell them, will you keep all these women alive?

These women, due to Balaam’s scheme, caused the Israelites to sin against the Lord in the matter of Peor, causing the assembly of the Lord to suffer a plague.

So, you must kill all the boys and all the married women.

But among girls, anyone who has not married can keep her alive.

You will be stationed outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh day, all those who have killed and touched those who have been killed, as well as the people you have taken captive, must purify themselves,

Cleanse yourself with all clothing, leather, goat hair, and all kinds of wooden objects.

Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had returned from the war, “This is the law that the Lord has commanded Moses.”,

Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead,

Whatever can see fire, you must make it clean by passing it through the fire, but you must also purify it with water that is used to remove impurities. Whatever cannot see fire, call it over water.

On the seventh day, you are to wash your clothes and be clean, and then you can enter the camp.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

You, Eleazar the priest, and the heads of all the tribes in the assembly, are to calculate the total number of people and livestock captured.

Divide the plunder into two parts, half for the elite soldiers who went out to fight, and half for the entire assembly.

Take one out of every five hundred of the population, oxen, donkeys, and flocks obtained from going out to war, as a tribute to the Lord.

Take out half of them and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.

Take one out of fifty from half of the Israelites, including the population, oxen, donkeys, flocks, and all kinds of livestock, and give it to the Levites who are guarding the tabernacle of the Lord.

So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Apart from the loot taken by the soldiers, 675000 sheep were captured.

Seventy two thousand cows.

Sixty thousand donkeys.

There are 32000 women, all of whom are unmarried.

The portion of the people who went out to war was the half they received, totaling 337500 sheep,

And out of it were six hundred and seventy-five as tribute to the Lord.

Thirty six thousand oxen, of which seventy-two were tribute to the Lord.

Thirty thousand and five hundred donkeys, of which 61 were tribute to the Lord.

Sixteen thousand people, out of which thirty-two belonged to the Lord.

Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord’s offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The half that the Israelites received was what Moses took from those who fought and distributed to them.

The other half of the congregation had thirty-three thousand seven thousand five hundred sheep.

There are 36000 cows.

Three thousand and five hundred donkeys.

There are 16000 people

Moses took one out of every fifty, whether it was human or livestock, and handed it over to the Levites who were guarding the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The commanders of the thousand armies, including the commanders of the thousand and the hundred, approached Moses,

Tell him that the total number of soldiers under servant power has been calculated and there is not a shortage of one person.

Now we will bring as an offering to the Lord the gold vessels that each person has obtained, including anklets, bracelets, printed rings, earrings, and bracelets, to make atonement for our lives before the Lord.

Moses and Eleazar the priest collected their gold, all of which were beaten vessels.

The total amount of gold offered by the commanders of thousands and hundreds as an offering to the Lord was 16750 shekels.

Each soldier took their belongings for themselves.

Moses and Eleazar the priest collected gold from commanders of thousands and hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.