The Living Bible (55 page)

Numbers
30

Now Moses summoned the leaders of the tribes and told them, “The Lord has commanded that when anyone makes a promise to the Lord, either to do something or to quit doing something, that vow must not be broken: the person making the vow must do exactly as he has promised.

    
³
 “If a woman promises the Lord to do or not do something, and she is still a girl at home in her father’s home,
⁴
 and her father hears that she has made a vow with penalties, but says nothing, then her vow shall stand.
⁵
 But if her father refuses to let her make the vow, or feels that the penalties she has agreed to are too harsh, then her promise will automatically become invalid. Her father must state his disagreement on the first day he hears about it; and then Jehovah will forgive her because her father would not let her do it.

    
⁶
 “If she takes a vow or makes a foolish pledge, and later marries,
⁷
 and her husband learns of her vow and says nothing on the day he hears of it, her vow shall stand.
⁸
 But if her husband refuses to accept her vow or foolish pledge, his disagreement makes it void, and Jehovah will forgive her.

    
⁹
 “But if the woman is a widow or is divorced, she must fulfill her vow.

    
¹⁰
 “If she is married and living in her husband’s home when she makes the vow,
¹¹
 and her husband hears of it and does nothing, the vow shall stand;
¹²
 but if he refuses to allow it on the first day he hears of it, her vow is void and Jehovah will forgive her.
¹³
 So her husband may either confirm or nullify her vow,
¹⁴
 but if he says nothing for a day, then he has already agreed to it.
¹⁵
 If he waits more than a day and then refuses to permit the vow, whatever penalties to which she agreed shall come upon him—he shall be responsible.”

    
¹⁶
 These, then, are the commandments the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife and between a father and his daughter who is living at home.

Numbers
31

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take vengeance on the Midianites for leading you into idolatry, and then you must die.”

    
³
 Moses said to the people, “Some of you must take arms to wage Jehovah’s war against Midian.
^4-5
 Conscript 1,000 men from each tribe.” So this was done; and out of the many thousands of Israel, 12,000 armed men were sent to battle by Moses.
⁶
 Phinehas (son of Eleazar the priest) led them into battle, accompanied by the Ark,
*
with trumpets blaring.
⁷
 And every man of Midian was killed.
⁸
 Among those killed were all five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. Balaam, the son of Beor, was also killed.

    
^9-11
 Then the Israeli army took as captives all the women and children, and seized the cattle and flocks and a lot of miscellaneous booty. All of the cities, towns, and villages of Midian were then burned.
¹²
 The captives and other war loot were brought to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the rest of the people of Israel who were camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
¹³
 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the people went out to meet the victorious army,
¹⁴
 but Moses was very angry with the army officers and battalion leaders.

    
¹⁵
 “Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded.
¹⁶
 “These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to worship idols on Mount Peor, and they are the cause of the plague that destroyed us.
¹⁷
 Now kill all the boys and all the women who have had sexual intercourse.
¹⁸
 Only the little girls may live; you may keep them for yourselves.
¹⁹
 Now stay outside of the camp for seven days, all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body. Then purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days.
²⁰
 Remember also to purify all your garments and everything made of leather, goat’s hair, or wood.”

    
²¹
 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, “This is the commandment Jehovah has given Moses:
²²
 ‘Anything that will stand heat—such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead—
²³
 shall be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure; it must then be further purified with the purification water. But anything that won’t stand heat shall be purified by the water alone.’
²⁴
 On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified, and then you may come back into the camp.”

    
²⁵
 And the Lord said to Moses,
²⁶
 “You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the tribes are to make a list of all the loot, including the people and animals;
²⁷
 then divide it into two parts. Half of it is for the men who were in the battle, and the other half is to be given to the people of Israel.
²⁸
 But first, the Lord gets a share of all the captives, oxen, donkeys, and flocks kept by the army. His share is one out of every five hundred.
²⁹
 Give this share to Eleazar the priest to be presented to the Lord by the gesture of waving before the altar.
³⁰
 Also levy a 2 percent tribute of all the captives, flocks, and cattle that are given to the people of Israel. Present this to the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle, for it is the Lord’s portion.”

    
³¹
 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded.
^32-35
 The total booty (besides the jewelry, clothing, etc., which the soldiers kept for themselves) was 675,000 sheep; 72,000 oxen; 61,000 donkeys; and 32,000 young girls.

    
^36-40
 So the half given to the army totaled: 337,500 sheep (of which 675 were given to the Lord); 36,000 oxen (of which 72 were given to the Lord); 30,500 donkeys (of which 61 were given to the Lord); 16,000 girls (of whom 32 went to the Levites
*
).

    
⁴¹
 All of the Lord’s portion was given to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had directed Moses.

    
^42-46
 The half of the booty assigned to the people of Israel—Moses had separated it from the half belonging to the warriors—amounted to: 337,500 sheep, 36,000 oxen, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 girls.

    
⁴⁷
 In accordance with the Lord’s directions, Moses gave 2 percent of these to the Levites.

    
^48-49
 Then the officers and battalion leaders came to Moses and said, “We have accounted for all the men who went out to battle, and not one of us is missing!
⁵⁰
 So we have brought a special thank offering to the Lord from our loot—gold jewelry, bracelets, anklets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This is to make atonement for our souls before the Lord.”

    
^51-52
 Moses and Eleazar the priest received this special offering from the captains and battalion leaders and company commanders, and found its total value to be more than $300,000.
⁵³
 (The soldiers had also kept personal loot for themselves.)
⁵⁴
 The offering was taken into the Tabernacle and kept there before the Lord as a memorial of the people of Israel.

Numbers
32

When Israel arrived in the land of Jazar and Gilead, the tribes of Reuben and Gad (who had large flocks of sheep) noticed what wonderful sheep country it was.
²
 So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the other tribal leaders and said,
^3-4
 “The Lord has used Israel to destroy the population of this whole countryside—Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. And it is all wonderful sheep country, ideal for our flocks.
⁵
 Please let us have this land as our portion instead of the land on the other side of the Jordan River.”

    
⁶
 “You mean you want to sit here while your brothers go across and do all the fighting?” Moses demanded.
⁷
 “Are you trying to discourage the rest of the people from going across to the land that the Lord has given them?
⁸
 This is the same kind of thing your fathers did! I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land,
⁹
 but when they finished their survey and returned from the valley of Eshcol, they discouraged the people from going on into the Promised Land.
^10-11
 And the Lord’s anger was hot against them, and he swore that of all those he had rescued from Egypt, no one over twenty years of age would ever see the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they had refused to do what he wanted them to.

    
¹²
 “The only exceptions were Caleb (son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite) and Joshua (son of Nun)—for they wholeheartedly followed the Lord and urged the people to go on into the Promised Land.

    
¹³
 “The Lord made us wander back and forth in the wilderness for forty years until all that evil generation died.
¹⁴
 But here you are, a brood of sinners doing exactly the same thing! Only there are more of you, so Jehovah’s anger against Israel will be even fiercer this time.
¹⁵
 If you turn away from God like this, he will make the people stay even longer in the wilderness, and you will be responsible for destroying his people and bringing disaster to this entire nation!”

    
¹⁶
 “Not at all!” they explained. “We will build sheepfolds for our flocks and cities for our little ones,
¹⁷
 but we ourselves will go over armed, ahead of the rest of the people of Israel, until we have brought them safely to their inheritance. But first we will need to build walled cities here for our families, to keep them safe from attack by the local inhabitants.
¹⁸
 We will not settle down here until all the people of Israel have received their inheritance.
¹⁹
 We don’t want land on the other side of the Jordan; we would rather have it on this side, on the east.”

    
²⁰
 Then Moses said, “All right, if you will do what you have said and arm yourselves for Jehovah’s war,
²¹
 and keep your troops across the Jordan until the Lord has driven out his enemies,
²²
 then, when the land is finally subdued before the Lord, you may return. Then you will have discharged your duty to the Lord and to the rest of the people of Israel. And the land on the eastern side shall be your possession from the Lord.
²³
 But if you don’t do as you have said, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will catch up with you.
²⁴
 Go ahead and build cities for your families and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do all you have said.”

    
²⁵
 “We will follow your instructions exactly,” the people of Gad and Reuben replied.
²⁶
 “Our children, wives, flocks, and cattle shall stay here in the cities of Gilead.
²⁷
 But all of us who are conscripted will go over to battle for the Lord, just as you have said.”

    
²⁸
 So Moses gave his approval by saying to Eleazar, Joshua, and the tribal leaders of Israel,
²⁹
 “If all the men of the tribes of Gad and Reuben who are conscripted for the Lord’s battles go with you over the Jordan, then, when the land is conquered, you must give them the land of Gilead;
³⁰
 but if they refuse, then they must accept land among the rest of you in the land of Canaan.”

    
³¹
 The tribes of Gad and Reuben said again, “As the Lord has commanded, so we will do—
³²
 we will follow the Lord fully armed into Canaan, but our own land shall be here on this side of the Jordan.”

    
³³
 So Moses assigned the territory of King Sihon of the Amorites, and of King Og of Bashan—all the land and cities—to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (son of Joseph).

    
^34-36
 The people of Gad built these cities: Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth-nimrah, Beth-haran. They were all fortified cities with sheepfolds.

    
^37-38
 The children of Reuben built the following cities: Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, Baal-meon, Sibmah. (The Israelites later changed the names of some of these cities they had conquered and rebuilt.)

    
³⁹
 Then the clan of Machir of the tribe of Manasseh went to Gilead and conquered it, and drove out the Amorites who were living there.
⁴⁰
 So Moses gave Gilead to the Machirites, and they lived there.
⁴¹
 The men of Jair, another clan of the tribe of Manasseh, occupied many of the towns in Gilead, and changed the name of their area to Havroth-jair.
⁴²
 Meanwhile, a man named Nobah led an army
*
to Kenath and its surrounding villages, and occupied them, and he called the area Nobah, after his own name.