Old Testament in a year – Day 86

Numbers 31: 25 - 32: 42

25The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26“Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation; 27and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 28Levy a tribute to the LORD of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks. 29Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for the LORD’s wave offering. 30Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle.”
31Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
32Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33seventy-two thousand head of cattle, 34sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him. 36The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred sheep; 37and the LORD’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 38The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was seventy-two. 39The donkeys were thirty thousand and five hundred, of which the LORD’s tribute was sixty-one. 40The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the LORD’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. 42Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought 43(now the congregation’s half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred sheep, 44thirty-six thousand head of cattle, 45thirty thousand and five hundred donkeys, 46and sixteen thousand persons), 47even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD commanded Moses.
48The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses. 49They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us. 50We have brought the LORD’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.”
51Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels. 52All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand and seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. 54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
1Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, 3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4the land which The LORD struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.” 5They said, “If we have found favour in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Jordan.”
6Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10The LORD’s anger burnt in that day, and he swore, saying, 11‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me, 12except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed the LORD completely.’ 13The LORD’s anger burnt against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in the LORD’s sight was consumed.
14“Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of the LORD towards Israel. 15For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”
16They came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones; 17but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their inheritance. 19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.”
20Moses said to them: “If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before the LORD to the war, 21and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 22and the land is subdued before the LORD; then afterward you shall return, and be clear of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. Then this land shall be your possession before the LORD.
23“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.”
25The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead; 27but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord says.”
28So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29Moses said to them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions amongst you in the land of Canaan.”
31The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As the LORD has said to your servants, so will we do. 32We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”
33Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan; the land, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land. 34The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep. 37The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built. 39The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. 40Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. 41Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair. 42Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
PUBLIC DOMAIN. "World English Bible" is trademark of eBible.org.