1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Exact vengeance for the Israelites from the Midianites—after that you will be gathered to your people.”
3 So Moses spoke to the people: “Arm men from among you for the war, to attack the Midianites and to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. 4 You must send to the battle 1,000 men from every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel.” 5 So 1,000 from every tribe, 12,000 armed for battle in all, were provided out of the thousands of Israel.
6 So Moses sent them to the war, 1,000 from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge of the holy articles and the signal trumpets. 7 They fought against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—five Midianite kings. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
9 The Israelites took the women of Midian captive along with their little ones, and took all their herds, all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder. 10 They burned all their towns where they lived and all their encampments. 11 They took all the plunder and all the spoils, both people and animals. 12 They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the rift valley plains of Moab, along the Jordan River across from Jericho. 13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.
14 But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? 16 Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor—which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord! 17 Now therefore kill every boy, and kill every woman who has been intimate with a man in bed. 18 But all the young women who have not experienced a man’s bed will be yours.
19 “Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day. 20 You must purify each garment and everything that is made of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone into the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded Moses: 22 ‘Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that may stand the fire, you are to pass through the fire, and it will be ceremonially clean, but it must still be purified with the water of purification. Anything that cannot withstand the fire you must pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be ceremonially clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.’”
25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 26 “You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals. 27 Divide the plunder into two parts, one for those who took part in the war—who went out to battle—and the other for all the community.
28 “You must exact a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of 500, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep. 29 You are to take it from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest for a raised offering to the Lord. 30 From the Israelites’ half share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep—from every kind of animal—and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”
31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The spoil that remained of the plunder that the fighting men had gathered was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 young women who had not experienced a man’s bed.
36 The half portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep; 37 the Lord’s tribute from the sheep was 675. 38 The cattle numbered 36,000; the Lord’s tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61. 40 The people were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 people.
41 So Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord’s raised offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 From the Israelites’ half share that Moses had separated from the fighting men, 43 there were 337,500 sheep from the portion belonging to the community, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 people.
47 From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders over thousands and the commanders over hundreds, approached Moses 49 and said to him, “Your servants have taken a count of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority, and not one is missing. 50 So we have brought as an offering for the Lord what each man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all of it in the form of ornaments. 52 All the gold of the offering they offered up to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds weighed 16,750 shekels. 53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. 54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.
1 We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks.
You reveal your presence;
people tell about your amazing deeds.
2 God says,
“At the appointed times,
I judge fairly.
3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear,
I make its pillars secure.” (Selah)
4 I say to the proud, “Do not be proud,”
and to the wicked, “Do not be so confident of victory.
5 Do not be so certain you have won.
Do not speak with your head held so high.
6 For victory does not come from the east or west,
or from the wilderness.
7 For God is the judge.
He brings one down and exalts another.
8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices,
and pours it out.
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.”
9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 God says,
“I will bring down all the power of the wicked;
the godly will be victorious.”
1 God has revealed himself in Judah;
in Israel his reputation is great.
2 He lives in Salem;
he dwells in Zion.
3 There he shattered the arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war. (Selah)
4 You shine brightly and reveal your majesty,
as you descend from the hills where you killed your prey.
5 The bravehearted were plundered;
they “fell asleep.”
All the warriors were helpless.
6 At the sound of your battle cry, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse “fell asleep.”
7 You are awesome! Yes, you!
Who can withstand your intense anger?
8 From heaven you announced what their punishment would be.
The earth was afraid and silent
9 when God arose to execute judgment,
and to deliver all the oppressed of the earth. (Selah)
10 Certainly your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise;
you reveal your anger in full measure.
11 Make vows to the Lord your God and repay them.
Let all those who surround him bring tribute to the awesome one.
12 He humbles princes;
the kings of the earth regard him as awesome.
1 This is an oracle about Tyre:
Wail, you large ships,
for the port is too devastated to enter!
From the land of Cyprus this news is announced to them.
2 Lament, you residents of the coast,
you merchants of Sidon who travel over the sea,
whose agents sail over 3 the deep waters.
Grain from the Shihor region,
crops grown near the Nile she receives;
she is the trade center of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,
for the sea says this, O fortress of the sea:
“I have not gone into labor
or given birth;
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.”
5 When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.
6 Travel to Tarshish!
Wail, you residents of the coast!
7 Is this really your boisterous city
whose origins are in the distant past,
and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?
8 Who planned this for royal Tyre,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are the dignitaries of the earth?
9 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies planned it—
to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty,
to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.
10 Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;
there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre.
11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea,
he shook kingdoms;
he gave the order
to destroy Canaan’s fortresses.
12 He said,
“You will no longer celebrate,
oppressed virgin daughter Sidon!
Get up, travel to Cyprus,
but you will find no relief there.”
13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans,
these people who have lost their identity!
The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.
They erected their siege towers,
demolished its fortresses,
and turned it into a heap of ruins.
14 Wail, you large ships,
for your fortress is destroyed!
15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the typical life span of a king. At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:
16 “Take the harp,
go through the city,
forgotten prostitute!
Play it well,
play lots of songs,
so you’ll be noticed.”
17 At the end of seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms. 18 Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes.
1 This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life— 2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us). 3 What we have seen and heard we announce to you too, so that you may have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ). 4 Thus we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
5 Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.