Good News Bible

Numbers 31:19-48 Good News Bible (GNB)

19. Now all of you who have killed anyone or have touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day purify yourselves and the women you have captured.

20. You must also purify every piece of clothing and everything made of leather, goats' hair, or wood.”

21. Eleazar the priest said to the men who had returned from battle, “These are the regulations that the Lord has given to Moses.

22-23. Everything that will not burn, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, is to be purified by passing it through fire. Everything else is to be purified by the water for purification.

24. On the seventh day you must wash your clothes; then you will be ritually clean and will be permitted to enter the camp.”

25. The Lord said to Moses,

26. “You and Eleazar, together with the other leaders of the community, are to count everything that has been captured, including the prisoners and the animals.

27. Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community.

28. From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the Lord one out of every 500 prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.

29. Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the Lord.

30. From the part given to the rest of the people, take one out of every fifty prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the Lord's Tent.”

31. Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded.

32-35. The following is a list of what was captured by the soldiers, in addition to what they kept for themselves: 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins.

36-40. The half-share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the Lord; 36,000 cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the Lord; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the Lord; and 16,000 virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the Lord.

41. So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.

42-46. The share of the community was the same as that for the soldiers: 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins.

47. From this share Moses took one out of every fifty prisoners and animals, and as the Lord had commanded, gave them to the Levites who were in charge of the Lord's Tent.

48. Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses