1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. 3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian. 4 Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.* 5 So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. 8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. 10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. 11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. 12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.

13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. 14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.* 15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.* 18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19 And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day. 20 And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.*

21 And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses; 22 Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water. 24 And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:* 27 And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation: 28 And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep: 29 Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD. 30 And of the children of Israel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.* 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. 32 And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep, 33 And threescore and twelve thousand beeves, 34 And threescore and one thousand asses, 35 And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep: 37 And the LORD’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen. 38 And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD’s tribute was threescore and twelve. 39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the LORD’s tribute was threescore and one. 40 And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty and two persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’s heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. 42 And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided from the men that warred, 43 (Now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep, 44 And thirty and six thousand beeves, 45 And thirty thousand asses and five hundred, 46 And sixteen thousand persons;) 47 Even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

48 And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses: 49 And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.* 50 We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.* 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels. 52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.* 53 (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.

1 O Senhor disse a Moisés:

2 ― Vingue‑se dos midianitas pelo que fizeram aos israelitas. Depois disso, você será reunido aos seus antepassados.

3 Então, Moisés disse ao povo:

― Armem alguns dos homens para irem à guerra contra os midianitas e executarem a vingança do Senhor contra eles. 4 Enviem à batalha mil homens de cada tribo de Israel.

5 Foram escolhidos para a guerra mil homens de cada tribo; ao todo, doze mil homens armados para a guerra. 6 Moisés os enviou à guerra, mil de cada tribo, com Fineias, filho do sacerdote Eleazar, que levou consigo objetos do santuário e as trombetas para o toque de guerra.

7 Eles lutaram contra Midiã, conforme o Senhor tinha ordenado a Moisés, e mataram todos os homens. 8 Entre os mortos, estavam os cinco reis de Midiã: Evi, Requém, Zur, Hur e Reba. Também mataram à espada Balaão, filho de Beor. 9 Os israelitas capturaram as mulheres e as crianças midianitas e tomaram como despojo todo o gado, todos os rebanhos e todos os bens dos midianitas. 10 Queimaram todas as cidades em que os midianitas habitavam, bem como todos os seus acampamentos. 11 Tomaram todos os despojos, incluindo pessoas e animais, 12 e levaram os prisioneiros e todo o produto dos despojos a Moisés, ao sacerdote Eleazar e à comunidade de Israel, em seu acampamento, nas planícies de Moabe, em frente de Jericó.

13 Moisés, o sacerdote Eleazar e todos os líderes da comunidade saíram para recebê‑los fora do acampamento. 14 Moisés, porém, indignou‑se contra os oficiais do exército que voltaram da guerra, os comandantes de milhares e os comandantes de centenas.

15 ― Vocês deixaram todas as mulheres vivas? — perguntou‑lhes. 16 — Foram elas que seguiram o conselho de Balaão e levaram Israel a ser infiel ao Senhor no caso de Peor, de modo que uma praga feriu a comunidade do Senhor. 17 Matem todos os meninos pequenos. Matem também todas as mulheres que se deitaram com homem, 18 mas, entre as crianças pequenas, poupem para vocês as meninas que nunca se deitaram com homem.

19 ― Todos vocês que mataram alguém ou que tocaram em algum morto ficarão sete dias fora do acampamento. No terceiro e no sétimo dias, deverão se purificar e aos seus prisioneiros. 20 Purifiquem toda roupa e também tudo o que é feito de couro, de pelo de bode ou de madeira.

21 Depois, o sacerdote Eleazar disse aos soldados que tinham ido à guerra:

― Este é o estatuto da lei que o Senhor ordenou a Moisés: 22 ouro, prata, bronze, ferro, estanho, chumbo 23 e tudo o que resista ao fogo vocês terão que passar pelo fogo para purificá‑los, mas também deverão purificá‑los com a água da purificação. Tudo o que não resistir ao fogo deverá passar pela água. 24 No sétimo dia, lavem as suas roupas, e vocês ficarão puros. Depois, poderão entrar no acampamento.

25 O Senhor disse a Moisés:

26 ― Você, o sacerdote Eleazar e os chefes das famílias da comunidade deverão contar todas as pessoas e os animais capturados. 27 Dividam os despojos pelos guerreiros que participaram da batalha e o restante da comunidade. 28 Dos guerreiros que foram para a guerra, separem como tributo ao Senhor um de cada quinhentos, tanto pessoas, como bois, jumentos, ovelhas ou bodes. 29 Tomem esse tributo da metade que foi dada como porção a eles e entreguem‑no ao sacerdote Eleazar como oferta ao Senhor. 30 Da metade dada aos israelitas, escolham um de cada cinquenta, tanto pessoas como bois, jumentos, ovelhas ou outros animais. Entreguem‑nos aos levitas, que cuidam do serviço no tabernáculo do Senhor.

31 Moisés e o sacerdote Eleazar fizeram como o Senhor tinha ordenado a Moisés.

32 Os despojos que restaram do que foi tomado pelos soldados foram seiscentos e setenta e cinco mil ovelhas, 33 setenta e duas mil cabeças de gado, 34 sessenta e um mil jumentos 35 e trinta e duas mil mulheres que não se deitaram com homem.

36 A metade da porção dos que participaram do exército foi esta:

trezentas e trinta e sete mil e quinhentas ovelhas, 37 das quais o tributo para o Senhor foram seiscentas e setenta e cinco;

38 trinta e seis mil cabeças de gado, das quais o tributo para o Senhor foram setenta e duas;

39 trinta mil e quinhentos jumentos, dos quais o tributo para o Senhor foram sessenta e um;

40 dezesseis mil pessoas, das quais o tributo para o Senhor foram trinta e duas.

41 Moisés deu o tributo ao sacerdote Eleazar como contribuição ao Senhor, conforme o Senhor tinha ordenado a Moisés.

42 A outra metade, pertencente aos israelitas, Moisés separou da parte dos combatentes; 43 esta era a metade pertencente à comunidade, com trezentas e trinta e sete mil e quinhentas ovelhas, 44 trinta e seis mil cabeças de gado, 45 trinta mil e quinhentos jumentos 46 e dezesseis mil pessoas. 47 Da metade pertencente aos israelitas, Moisés escolheu um de cada cinquenta, tanto de pessoas como de animais, conforme o Senhor lhe tinha ordenado, e os entregou aos levitas, que cuidam do serviço no tabernáculo do Senhor.

48 Então, os oficiais que estavam sobre as unidades do exército, os comandantes de milhares e os comandantes de centenas foram a Moisés 49 e lhe disseram:

― Os seus servos contaram os soldados sob o nosso comando, e não está faltando ninguém. 50 Por isso, trouxemos como oferta ao Senhor os artigos de ouro dos quais cada um de nós se apossou: braceletes, pulseiras, anéis-sinete, brincos e colares; para fazer expiação por nós diante do Senhor.

51 Moisés e o sacerdote Eleazar receberam deles todas as joias de ouro. 52 Todo o ouro dado pelos comandantes de milhares e pelos comandantes de centenas que Moisés e Eleazar apresentaram como contribuição ao Senhor pesou dezesseis mil setecentos e cinquenta siclos.*53 Cada soldado tinha tomado despojos para si mesmo. 54 Moisés e o sacerdote Eleazar receberam o ouro dado pelos comandantes de milhares e pelos comandantes de centenas e o levaram para a tenda do encontro como memorial dos israelitas diante do Senhor.