6. Then Moses sent them off to war, 1,000 men from each tribe along with Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar. Phinehas took with him the holy articles and the trumpets for the fanfare.
7. They went to war against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man.
8. Among those killed were the five kings of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam, son of Beor, in battle.
9. The Israelites took the Midianite women and children as prisoners of war. They also took all their animals, their livestock, and their valuables as loot.
10. They burned all the cities where the Midianites lived and all their settlements.
11. Then they took everything as loot, including all the people and animals,
12. and brought the prisoners of war, the loot, and everything to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the community of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho.
13. Moses, the priest Eleazar, and all the leaders of the community went outside the camp to meet them.
14. Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of the companies and battalions, who were returning from battle.
15. “Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them.
16. “Remember, they were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the incident that took place at Peor. The Lord’s community experienced a plague at that time.
17. So kill all the Midianite boys and every Midianite woman who has gone to bed with a man.
18. But save for yourselves every girl who has never gone to bed with a man.