Return from the War

12 Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. 13 And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.

15 And Moses said to them: “Have you kept kall the women alive? 16 Look, lthese women caused the children of Israel, through the mcounsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and nthere was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. 17 Now therefore, okill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. 18 But keep alive pfor yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately. 19 And as for you, qremain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and rwhoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the 1ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses: 22 “Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified swith the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water. 24 tAnd you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”

Division of the Plunder

25 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 26 “Count up the plunder that was 2taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; 27 and udivide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 28 And levy a 3tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: vone of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; 29 take it from their half, and wgive it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord. 30 And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take xone of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites ywho 4keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.” 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately. 36 And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep; 37 and the Lord’s 5tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was seventy-two. 39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord’s tribute was sixty-one. 40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord’s heave offering to Eleazar the priest, zas the Lord commanded Moses.

42 And from the children of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who fought—43 now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons—47 and afrom the children of Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing. 50 Therefore we have brought an offering for the Lord, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, bto make 6atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments. 52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53 c(The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting das a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.

The Tribes Settling East of the Jordan

32 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of aJazer and the land of bGilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, cNimrah, dHeshbon, Elealeh, eShebam, Nebo, and fBeon, 4 the country gwhich the Lord defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why will you hdiscourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 Thus your fathers did iwhen I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea jto see the land. 9 For kwhen they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 lSo the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, mfrom twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because nthey have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, ofor they have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 So the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them pwander in the wilderness forty years, until qall the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. 14 And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the rfierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 15 For if you sturn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

16 Then they came near to him and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but twe ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 uWe will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has 1received his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, vbecause our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

20 Then wMoses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, 21 and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 22 and xthe land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward yyou may return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel; and zthis land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure ayour sin will find you out. 24 bBuild cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do 2what has proceeded out of your mouth.”

25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 cOur little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; 27 dbut your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

28 So Moses gave command econcerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them: “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30 But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

31 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: “As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan.”

33 So fMoses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, gthe kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country. 34 And the children of Gad built hDibon and Ataroth and iAroer, 35 Atroth and Shophan and jJazer and Jogbehah, 36 kBeth Nimrah and Beth Haran, lfortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 And the children of Reuben built mHeshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim, 38 nNebo and oBaal Meon p(their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built.

39 And the children of qMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and 3dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses rgave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. 41 Also sJair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them tHavoth Jair. 442 Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.

Israel’s Journey from Egypt Reviewed

33 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the ahand of Moses and Aaron. 2 Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the Lord. And these are their journeys according to their starting points:

3 They bdeparted from Rameses in cthe first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out dwith boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. 4 For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, ewhom the Lord had killed among them. Also fon their gods the Lord had executed judgments.

5 gThen the children of Israel moved from Rameses and camped at Succoth. 6 They departed from hSuccoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 iThey moved from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is east of Baal Zephon; and they camped near Migdol. 8 They departed 1from before Hahiroth and jpassed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, went three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham, and camped at Marah. 9 They moved from Marah and kcame to Elim. At Elim were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there.

10 They moved from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11 They moved from the Red Sea and camped in the lWilderness of Sin. 12 They journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 They departed from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 They moved from Alush and camped at mRephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

15 They departed from Rephidim and camped in the nWilderness of Sinai. 16 They moved from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped oat 2Kibroth Hattaavah. 17 They departed from Kibroth Hattaavah and pcamped at Hazeroth. 18 They departed from Hazeroth and camped at qRithmah. 19 They departed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez. 20 They departed from Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah. 21 They moved from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 They journeyed from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 They went from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They moved from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 They moved from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 They moved from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 They departed from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 They moved from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 They went from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 They departed from Hashmonah and rcamped at Moseroth. 31 They departed from Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan. 32 They moved from sBene Jaakan and tcamped at Hor Hagidgad. 33 They went from Hor Hagidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 They moved from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 They departed from Abronah uand camped at Ezion Geber. 36 They moved from Ezion Geber and camped in the vWilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. 37 They moved from wKadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom.

38 Then xAaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 Now ythe king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

41 So they departed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 They departed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 They departed from Punon and zcamped at Oboth. 44 aThey departed from Oboth and camped at Ije Abarim, at the border of Moab. 45 They departed from 3Ijim and camped bat Dibon Gad. 46 They moved from Dibon Gad and camped at cAlmon Diblathaim. 47 They moved from Almon Diblathaim dand camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 They departed from the mountains of Abarim and ecamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. 49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jesimoth as far as the fAbel Acacia Grove 4in the plains of Moab.