Daily Text and Bible Reading: Friday, February 21 [Press play below]

31.1 Jehovah then told Moses:
31.2 “Take vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites. Afterward you will be gathered to your people.”
31.3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying: “Equip men from among you for battle against Midian and to execute Jehovah’s vengeance on Midian.
31.4 You should send 1,000 of each tribe of all the tribes of Israel into the army.”
31.5 So from the thousands of Israel, 1,000 were assigned from each tribe, 12,000 equipped for battle.
31.6 Then Moses sent them out, 1,000 from each tribe to the army, along with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest for the army, who had the holy utensils and the signal trumpets in his hand.
31.7 They waged war against Midian, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
31.8 Along with the others slain, they killed the kings of Midian, namely, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
31.9 But the Israelites carried off captive the women and children of Midian. They also plundered all their domestic animals, all their livestock, and all their possessions.
31.10 And all their cities in which they had settled and all their encampments they burned with fire.
31.11 And they took all the spoil and all the plunder, both humans and animals.
31.12 Then they brought the captives, the plunder, and the spoil to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the assembly of the Israelites, to the camp in the desert plains of Moab near the Jordan at Jericho.
31.13 Then Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chieftains of the assembly went out to meet them outside the camp.
31.14 But Moses grew indignant at the appointed men of the combat forces, the chiefs of the thousands and the chiefs of the hundreds who were coming in from the military expedition.
31.15 Moses said to them: “Have you preserved all the females alive?
31.16 Look! They are the ones who by Balaam’s word induced the Israelites to commit unfaithfulness toward Jehovah over the affair of Peor, so that the scourge came upon the assembly of Jehovah.
31.17 Now you should kill every male among the children and kill every woman who has had sexual relations with a man.
31.18 But you may keep alive all the young girls who have not had sexual relations with a man.
31.19 And you should camp outside the camp seven days. Every one of you who has killed someone and every one of you who has touched someone slain should purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
31.20 And you should purify from sin every garment, every article of skin, everything made of goat hair, and every article of wood.”
31.21 Eleazar the priest then said to the men of the army who had gone into the battle: “This is the statute of the law that Jehovah commanded Moses,
31.22 ‘Only the gold, the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
31.23 everything that can be processed with fire, you should pass through the fire, and it will be clean. However, it should also be purified by the water for cleansing. Everything that cannot be processed with fire, you should pass through the water.
31.24 And you should wash your garments on the seventh day and be clean, and then you may come into the camp.’”
31.25 Jehovah then said this to Moses:
31.26 “Take an inventory of the plunder, counting the captives both of humans and animals; do this together with Eleazar the priest and the heads of the paternal houses of the assembly.
31.27 Divide what was plundered into two parts to be shared between those in the army who took part in the battle and all the rest of the assembly.
31.28 As a tax for Jehovah, you should take from the soldiers who went out into the battle one soul out of every 500, of the people, the herd, the donkeys, and the flock.
31.29 You should take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as Jehovah’s contribution.
31.30 From the half given to the Israelites, you should take one out of 50, of the people, the herd, the donkeys, the flock, and every sort of domestic animal, and give them to the Levites, who care for the responsibilities connected with Jehovah’s tabernacle.”
31.31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
31.32 The spoils, the rest of the plunder that the people of the expedition had taken, amounted to 675,000 of the flock,
31.33 72,000 of the herd,
31.34 and 61,000 donkeys.
31.35 The women who had not had sexual relations with a man amounted to 32,000 women.
31.36 The half that was the share of those who went out into the battle amounted to 337,500 of the flock.
31.37 The tax for Jehovah from the flock amounted to 675.
31.38 And there were 36,000 of the herd, and the tax on them for Jehovah was 72.
31.39 And there were 30,500 donkeys, and the tax on them for Jehovah was 61.
31.40 And there were 16,000 humans, and the tax on them for Jehovah was 32 persons.
31.41 Then Moses gave the tax as Jehovah’s contribution to Eleazar the priest, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
31.42 From the half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses had divided off from the portion that belonged to the men who waged war,
31.43 that half of the flock amounted to 337,500,
31.44 and of the herd, 36,000,
31.45 and of the donkeys, 30,500,
31.46 and of the people, 16,000.
31.47 Then Moses took from the half belonging to the Israelites one out of 50, of the people and of the animals, and gave them to the Levites, who cared for the responsibility of Jehovah’s tabernacle, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
31.48 Then the appointed men who were of the thousands of the army, the chiefs of the thousands and the chiefs of the hundreds, approached Moses,
31.49 and they said to Moses: “Your servants have taken the count of the men of war who are under our command, and not one has been reported missing from us.
31.50 So let us each present what he has found as Jehovah’s offering, articles of gold, ankle chains, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and other jewelry, in order to make atonement for ourselves before Jehovah.”
31.51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from them, all the jewelry.
31.52 All the gold of the contribution that they made to Jehovah amounted to 16,750 shekels, from the chiefs of the thousands and the chiefs of the hundreds.
31.53 The men of the army had each taken plunder for himself.
31.54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the chiefs of the thousands and of the hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a reminder for the people of Israel before Jehovah.
32.1 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large quantities of livestock, and they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were a good region for livestock.
32.2 So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the chieftains of the assembly and said:
32.3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
32.4 the land that Jehovah defeated before the assembly of Israel, is a good land for livestock, and your servants have much livestock.”
32.5 They continued: “If we have found favor in your eyes, let this be the land given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”
32.6 Then Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben: “Are your brothers to go to war while you yourselves keep dwelling here?
32.7 Why should you discourage the people of Israel from crossing into the land that Jehovah is certain to give them?
32.8 That is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
32.9 When they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the people of Israel from going into the land that Jehovah was to give them.
32.10 Jehovah’s anger blazed on that day so that he swore:
32.11 ‘The men who came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and up will not see the land of which I have sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not followed me wholeheartedly—
32.12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed Jehovah wholeheartedly.’
32.13 So Jehovah’s anger blazed against Israel and he made them wander about in the wilderness for 40 years, until all the generation that was doing evil in the eyes of Jehovah came to its end.
32.14 Now here you have risen in the place of your fathers as a brood of sinful men who increase the burning anger of Jehovah against Israel.
32.15 If you turn back from following him, he will certainly leave them again in the wilderness, and you will bring ruin to all this people.”
32.16 They later approached him and said: “Let us build here stone pens for our livestock and cities for our children.
32.17 But we will continue ready for battle and will go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place, while our children will dwell in the fortified cities, safe from the inhabitants of the land.
32.18 We will not return to our houses until each of the Israelites has received his land as an inheritance.
32.19 For we will not receive an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because we have received our inheritance on the east side of the Jordan.”
32.20 Moses replied to them: “If you will do this: Take up arms before Jehovah for the war;
32.21 and if every one of you takes up arms and crosses the Jordan before Jehovah as he drives away his enemies from before him
32.22 until the land is subdued before Jehovah, afterward you may return and be free from guilt before Jehovah and Israel. Then this land will become your possession before Jehovah.
32.23 But if you do not do this, you will have sinned against Jehovah. In that case, know that your sin will catch up with you.
32.24 So you may build cities for your children and pens for your flocks, but you must do what you have promised.”
32.25 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said this to Moses: “Your servants will do just as my lord is commanding.
32.26 Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our domestic animals will stay there in the cities of Gilead,
32.27 but your servants will cross over, every man armed for battle to wage war before Jehovah, just as my lord is speaking.”
32.28 So Moses gave a command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the paternal houses of the tribes of Israel.
32.29 Moses said to them: “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for the war before Jehovah, and the land is subdued before you, you will then give them the land of Gilead as a possession.
32.30 But if they do not take up arms and cross over with you, they will then settle among you in the land of Canaan.”
32.31 To this the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered: “What Jehovah has spoken to your servants is what we will do.
32.32 We will take up arms and cross over before Jehovah to the land of Canaan, but the possession we are to inherit will be on this side of the Jordan.”
32.33 So Moses gave to them—to the sons of Gad, the sons of Reuben, and to the half tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og the king of Bashan, the land belonging to its cities in those territories, and the cities of the surrounding land.
32.34 And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
32.35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
32.36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and they built stone pens for the flocks.
32.37 And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
32.38 Nebo, and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah; and they began to rename the cities that they rebuilt.
32.39 The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh marched against Gilead and captured it and drove away the Amorites who were in it.
32.40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he began dwelling in it.
32.41 And Jair the son of Manasseh marched against them and captured their tent villages, and he began to call them Havvoth-jair.
32.42 And Nobah marched against and captured Kenath and its dependent towns, and he began to call it Nobah by his own name.