War Against the Midianites

31 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Seek vengeance for the Israelites[fn] on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people.” 3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm yourself from among your men for the battle, so that they will go[fn] against Midian to mete out the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian. 4 A thousand from each tribe of every tribe of Israel you will send to battle.” 5 So theywere assigned from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand equipped for battle. 6 Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the battle, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the battle with them, and the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets of the blast were in his hand. 7 And they fought against Midian just as Yahweh commanded Moses, and they killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to the ones they had slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam son of Beor by the sword. 9 The Israelites[fn] took captive the women of Midian and their children, and they plundered all their domestic animals and all their livestock and all their wealth. 10 They burned all their cities where they dwelled and all their camps with fire. 11 They took all the plunder and all the war-booty with the humans[fn] and domestic animals.[fn] 12 They brought the captives, the war-booty, and the plunder to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the community of the Israelites,[fn] to the camp to the desert-plateau of Moab, whichwas on the Jordan across Jericho.

13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moses was angry toward the leaders of the troops, the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, who came from the battle of the war. 15 And Moses said to them, “You have kept alive every female? 16 Behold, these women caused[fn] theIsraelites,[fn] by the word of Balaam, to be in apostasy against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, so that the plague was among the community of Yahweh. 17 Now kill every male among the little children, and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man.[fn] 18 But all the females who have not had sexual intercourse with a man,[fn] keep alive for yourselves. 19 And you, camp outside the camp seven days; all who killed a person and all who touched the slain purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20 You will purify yourselves and every garment and every object of hide and all the work of goats’ hair, and every object of wood.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of the battle who came from the war, “This is the decree of the law that Yahweh commanded Moses. 22 Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead—23 everything that will go through the fire—you will pass through the fire, and it will be clean, and only in waters of impurity will it be purified. Whatever does not go into the fire you will pass through the waters. 24 And you will wash your garments on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you will come into the camp.”