God

Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded:

If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.

And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,

But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because her father has prohibited her.

But if her husband prohibits her when he hears of it, he nullifies the vow that binds her or the rash promise she has made, and the LORD will absolve her.

But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her.

These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.

And the LORD said to Moses,

So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them.

Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.

“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.

Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:

The LORD said to Moses,

Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.

Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.

From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses,

337,500 sheep, including a tribute to the LORD of 675,

36,000 cattle, including a tribute to the LORD of 72,

30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61,

and 16,000 people, including a tribute to the LORD of 32.

Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as an offering for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.

So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.