Numbers 31 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens:
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Ulciscere prius filios Israël de Madianitis, et sic colligeris ad populum tuum.
2 “Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
3 Statimque Moyses: Armate, inquit, ex vobis viros ad pugnam, qui possint ultionem Domini expetere de Madianitis.
3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh’s vengeance on Midian.
4 Mille viri de singulis tribubus eligantur ex Israël qui mittantur ad bellum.
4 You shall send one thousand out of every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”
5 Dederuntque millenos de singulis tribubus, id est, duodecim millia expeditorum ad pugnam:
5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 quos misit Moyses cum Phinees filio Eleazari sacerdotis, vasa quoque sancta, et tubas ad clangendum tradidit ei.
6 Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
7 Cumque pugnassent contra Madianitas atque vicissent, omnes mares occiderunt,
7 They fought against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses. They killed every male.
8 et reges eorum, Evi, et Recem, et Sur, et Hur, et Rebe, quinque principes gentis: Balaam quoque filium Beor interfecerunt gladio.
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
9 Ceperuntque mulieres eorum, et parvulos, omniaque pecora, et cunctam supellectilem: quidquid habere potuerant depopulati sunt:
9 The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder.
10 tam urbes quam viculos et castella flamma consumpsit.
10 All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.
11 Et tulerunt prædam, et universa quæ ceperant tam ex hominibus quam ex jumentis,
11 They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal.
12 et adduxerunt ad Moysen, et Eleazarum sacerdotem, et ad omnem multitudinem filiorum Israël: reliqua autem utensilia portaverunt ad castra in campestribus Moab juxta Jordanem contra Jericho.
12 They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
13 Egressi sunt autem Moyses et Eleazar sacerdos, et omnes principes synagogæ, in occursum eorum extra castra.
13 Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp.
14 Iratusque Moyses principibus exercitus, tribunis, et centurionibus qui venerant de bello,
14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
15 ait: Cur feminas reservastis?
15 Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive?
16 nonne istæ sunt, quæ deceperunt filios Israël ad suggestionem Balaam, et prævaricari vos fecerunt in Domino super peccato Phogor, unde et percussus est populus?
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.
17 ergo cunctos interficite quidquid est generis masculinis, etiam in parvulis: et mulieres, quæ noverunt viros in coitu, jugulate:
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
18 puellas autem et omnes feminas virgines reservate vobis:
18 But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19 et manete extra castra septem diebus. Qui occiderit hominem, vel occisum tetigerit, lustrabitur die tertio et septimo.
19 “Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
20 Et de omni præda, sive vestimentum fuerit, sive vas, et aliquid in utensilia præparatum, de caprarum pellibus, et pilis, et ligno, expiabitur.
20 You shall purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.”
21 Eleazar quoque sacerdos ad viros exercitus, qui pugnaverunt, sic locutus est: Hoc est præceptum legis, quod mandavit Dominus Moysi:
21 Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses.
22 aurum, et argentum, et æs, et ferrum, et plumbum, et stannum,
22 However the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 et omne, quod potest transire per flammas, igne purgabitur: quidquid autem ignem non potest sustinere, aqua expiationis sanctificabitur:
23 everything that may withstand the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.
24 et lavabitis vestimenta vestra die septimo, et purificati postea castra intrabitis.
24 You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.”
25 Dixit quoque Dominus ad Moysen:
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
26 Tollite summam eorum quæ capta sunt, ab homine usque ad pecus, tu et Eleazar sacerdos et principes vulgi:
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;
27 dividesque ex æquo prædam inter eos qui pugnaverunt egressique sunt ad bellum, et inter omnem reliquam multitudinem.
27 and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
28 Et separabis partem Domino ab his qui pugnaverunt et fuerunt in bello, unam animam de quingentis, tam ex hominibus quam ex bobus et asinis et ovibus,
28 Levy a tribute to Yahweh 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.
29 et dabis eam Eleazaro sacerdoti, quia primitiæ Domini sunt.
29 Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh’s wave offering.
30 Ex media quoque parte filiorum Israël accipies quinquagesimum caput hominum, et boum, et asinorum, et ovium, cunctorum animantium, et dabis ea Levitis, qui excubant in custodiis tabernaculi Domini.
30 Of 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 Yahweh’s tabernacle.”
31 Feceruntque Moyses et Eleazar sicut præceperat Dominus.
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.
32 Fuit autem præda, quam exercitus ceperat, ovium sexcenta septuaginta quinque millia,
32 Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 boum septuaginta duo millia,
33 seventy-two thousand head of cattle,
34 asinorum sexaginta millia et mille:
34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,
35 animæ hominum sexus feminei, quæ non cognoverant viros, triginta duo millia.
35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him.
36 Dataque est media pars his qui in prælio fuerant, ovium trecenta triginta septem millia quingentæ:
36 The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep;
37 e quibus in partem Domini supputatæ sunt oves sexcentæ septuaginta quinque:
37 and Yahweh’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five.
38 et de bobus triginta sex millibus, boves septuaginta et duo:
38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which Yahweh’s tribute was seventy-two.
39 de asinis triginta millibus quingentis, asini sexaginta unus:
39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which Yahweh’s tribute was sixty-one.
40 de animabus hominum sedecim millibus, cesserunt in partem Domini triginta duæ animæ.
40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom Yahweh’s tribute was thirty-two persons.
41 Tradiditque Moyses numerum primitiarum Domini Eleazaro sacerdoti, sicut fuerat ei imperatum,
41 Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
42 ex media parte filiorum Israël, quam separaverat his qui in prælio fuerant.
42 Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought
43 De media vero parte, quæ contigerat reliquæ multitudini, id est, de ovibus trecentis triginta septem millibus quingentis,
43 (now the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 et de bobus triginta sex millibus,
44 thirty-six thousand head of cattle,
45 et de asinis triginta millibus quingentis,
45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46 et de hominibus sedecim millibus,
46 and sixteen thousand persons),
47 tulit Moyses quinquagesimum caput, et dedit Levitis, qui excubabant in tabernaculo Domini, sicut præceperat Dominus.
47 even 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 Yahweh’s tabernacle, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
48 Cumque accessissent principes exercitus ad Moysen, et tribuni, centurionesque, dixerunt:
48 The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses.
49 Nos servi tui recensuimus numerum pugnatorum, quos habuimus sub manu nostra: et ne unus quidem defuit.
49 They 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.
50 Ob hanc causam offerimus in donariis Domini singuli quod in præda auri potuimus invenire, periscelides et armillas, annulos et dextralia, ac murænulas, ut depreceris pro nobis Dominum.
50 We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.”
51 Susceperuntque Moyses et Eleazar sacerdos omne aurum in diversis speciebus,
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels.
52 pondo sedecim millia septingentos quinquaginta siclos, a tribunis et centurionibus.
52 All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to Yahweh, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.
53 Unusquisque enim quod in præda rapuerat, suum erat.
53 The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.
54 Et susceptum intulerunt in tabernaculum testimonii, in monimentum filiorum Israël coram Domino.
54 Moses 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 Yahweh.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Evi
One of the five kings of Midian killed in Israel's war of vengeance against the Midianites.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:21
Hur
One of the five kings of Midian killed in Israel's war of vengeance against the Midianites.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:21
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Reba
One of the five kings of Midian killed in Israel's war of vengeance against the Midianites.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:21
Rekem
One of the five kings of Midian killed in Israel's war of vengeance against the Midianites.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:21
Zur
A tribal chief of a Midianite family and father of Cozbi; a Zur is also named among the five Midianite kings killed in the war of vengeance.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 25:15; Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:21
Cross references (32)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 2 Numbers 27:13; Numbers 25:14–18; Judges 2:10; Revelation 6:10; Psalm 94:1–3
- 3 Leviticus 26:25; Numbers 25:13; Exodus 17:16; 2 Kings 10:30; Numbers 25:11
- 4 1 Samuel 14:6; Leviticus 26:8; Judges 7:2
- 6 Numbers 14:44; Numbers 10:8–9; 2 Chronicles 13:12–15; Joshua 6:4–6; Joshua 6:13–15
- 7 Judges 21:11; 1 Kings 11:15–16; 1 Samuel 27:9; Judges 6:1–2; Deuteronomy 20:13–14
- 8 Joshua 13:21–22; Numbers 25:15; Revelation 2:14; Jude 11; Numbers 25:18
- 9 2 Chronicles 28:8–10; Deuteronomy 20:14; 2 Chronicles 28:5; Numbers 31:15–16
- 10 Isaiah 1:7; 1 Samuel 30:1; Revelation 18:8; 1 Kings 9:16; Joshua 6:24
- 11 Deuteronomy 20:14; Joshua 8:2
- 12 Numbers 22:1
- 13 Numbers 31:12; Genesis 14:17; 1 Samuel 15:12; 1 Samuel 30:21; Numbers 31:22–24
- 14 Numbers 31:48; Exodus 32:19; Leviticus 10:16; Numbers 12:3; 1 Samuel 15:13–14
- 15 1 Samuel 15:3; Deuteronomy 2:34; Jeremiah 48:10; Psalm 137:8–9; Joshua 10:40
- 16 2 Peter 2:15; Numbers 25:1–9; Revelation 2:14; Deuteronomy 4:3; Joshua 22:17
- 17 Deuteronomy 20:16–18; Judges 21:11–12; Deuteronomy 7:2
- 18 Deuteronomy 21:10–14; Leviticus 25:44; Deuteronomy 20:14; 2 Chronicles 28:8–10; Isaiah 14:2
- 19 Numbers 5:2; Numbers 19:11–22; 1 Chronicles 22:8
- 20 Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:10; Numbers 19:14–16; Numbers 19:22
- 21 Numbers 30:16
- 23 Numbers 19:9; 1 Corinthians 3:13; Numbers 19:17; Matthew 3:11; Isaiah 43:2
- 24 Leviticus 11:25; Numbers 19:19; Leviticus 15:13; Leviticus 14:9
- 27 Joshua 22:8; 1 Samuel 30:24–25; Psalm 68:12; 1 Samuel 30:4
- 28 Numbers 18:26; Numbers 31:47; Numbers 31:30; Proverbs 3:9–10; Genesis 14:20
- 29 Numbers 18:26; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:19; Exodus 29:27
- 30 Numbers 3:7–8; Numbers 3:31; Numbers 3:25; 1 Chronicles 26:20–27; Numbers 18:23–28
- 41 Numbers 18:8; Numbers 18:19; Numbers 31:29–31; Galatians 6:6; Matthew 10:10
- 47 Numbers 31:30; Luke 10:1–8; Deuteronomy 12:17–19; Numbers 18:21–24; Isaiah 56:10–11
- 49 John 18:9; 1 Samuel 30:18–19; Psalm 72:14
- 50 Exodus 30:12; Exodus 30:15–16; Psalm 116:12; Psalm 107:15; Psalm 116:17
- 51 Numbers 7:2–6
- 53 Deuteronomy 20:14; Numbers 31:32
- 54 Exodus 30:16; Zechariah 6:14; Numbers 16:40; Psalm 103:1–2; Joshua 4:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
You have a plain passage in Genesis, when Eve herself was first made, "He made her a woman." Scripture also in another place saith, that God ordered "the women" to be separated "which had not known man by lying with him." This then ought now to be well established, and should not detain us, that so we may be able …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)