NKJV Bible in 365 Days
War with Midian & Land Inheritance — February 16
Numbers 31-32
Numbers 31
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 365N 47.1
2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 365N 47.2
3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. 365N 47.3
4 A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” 365N 47.4
5 So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 365N 47.5
6 Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand. 365N 47.6
7 And they warred against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed all the males. 365N 47.7
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword. 365N 47.8
9 And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. 365N 47.9
10 They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts. 365N 47.10
11 And they took all the spoil and all the booty—of man and beast. 365N 47.11
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. 365N 47.12
13 And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp. 365N 47.13
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. 365N 47.14
15 And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? 365N 47.15
16 Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord . 365N 47.16
17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. 365N 47.17
18 But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately. 365N 47.18
19 And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 365N 47.19
20 Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.” 365N 47.20
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the [a] ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses: 365N 47.21
22 Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 365N 47.22
23 everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water. 365N 47.23
24 And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.” 365N 47.24
25 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 365N 47.25
26 “Count up the plunder that was [b] taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; 365N 47.26
27 and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 365N 47.27
28 And levy a [c] tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; 365N 47.28
29 take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord . 365N 47.29
30 And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who [d] keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord .” 365N 47.30
31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 365N 47.31
32 The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 365N 47.32
33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 365N 47.33
34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 365N 47.34
35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately. 365N 47.35
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; 365N 47.36
37 and the Lord ’s [e] tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 365N 47.37
38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord ’s tribute was seventy-two. 365N 47.38
39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord ’s tribute was sixty-one. 365N 47.39
40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord ’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 365N 47.40
41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord ’s heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses. 365N 47.41
42 And from the children of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who fought— 365N 47.42
43 now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 365N 47.43
44 thirty-six thousand cattle, 365N 47.44
45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 365N 47.45
46 and sixteen thousand persons— 365N 47.46
47 and from 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. 365N 47.47
48 Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; 365N 47.48
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. 365N 47.49
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, to make [f] atonement for ourselves before the Lord .” 365N 47.50
51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments. 365N 47.51
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. 365N 47.52
53 (The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) 365N 47.53
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 as a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord . 365N 47.54
Numbers 32
1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 365N 47.55
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, 365N 47.56
3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 365N 47.57
4 the country which the Lord defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 365N 47.58
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.” 365N 47.59
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? 365N 47.60
7 Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 365N 47.61
8 Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 365N 47.62
9 For when 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. 365N 47.63
10 So the Lord ’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 365N 47.64
11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 365N 47.65
12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord .’ 365N 47.66
13 So the Lord ’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. 365N 47.67
14 And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 365N 47.68
15 For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.” 365N 47.69
16 Then they came near to him and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 365N 47.70
17 but we 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. 365N 47.71
18 We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has [a] received his inheritance. 365N 47.72
19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.” 365N 47.73
20 Then Moses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, 365N 47.74
21 and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 365N 47.75
22 and the land is subdued before the Lord , then afterward you may return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord . 365N 47.76
23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord ; and be sure your sin will find you out. 365N 47.77
24 Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do [b] what has proceeded out of your mouth.” 365N 47.78
25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 365N 47.79
26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; 365N 47.80
27 but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.” 365N 47.81
28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. 365N 47.82
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. 365N 47.83
30 But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 365N 47.84
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. 365N 47.85
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.” 365N 47.86
33 So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the 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 with its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country. 365N 47.87
34 And the children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer, 365N 47.88
35 Atroth and Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, 365N 47.89
36 Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 365N 47.90
37 And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim, 365N 47.91
38 Nebo and Baal Meon ( their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 365N 47.92
39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and [c] dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 365N 47.93
40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. 365N 47.94
41 Also Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havoth Jair. [d] 365N 47.95
42 Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name. 365N 47.96