Bible Verses About Journey of Israel Through The Desert: Midianites destroyed and Balaam slain

ADONAI said to Moshe,

"On behalf of the people of Isra'el, take vengeance on the Midyanim. After that, you will be gathered to your people."

Moshe said to the people, "Equip men from among yourselves for war. They are to go and fight Midyan, in order to carry out ADONAI's vengeance on Midyan.

You are to send to the war a thousand men from every one of Isra'el's tribes."

So out of the thousands of people in Isra'el, a thousand armed men from each tribe, 12,000 altogether, were mustered for war.

Moshe sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war; he sent them and Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen to the war, with the holy utensils and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his care.

They fought against Midyan, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe, and killed every male.

They killed the kings of Midyan along with the others who were slain - Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva, the five kings of Midyan. They also killed Bil'am the son of B'or with the sword.

The people of Isra'el took captive the women of Midyan and their little ones, and they took as booty all their cattle, flocks and other goods.

They set fire to all their cities in the areas where they lived and all their camps.

They took all the booty, all the people and animals they had captured,

and brought the captives, booty and spoil to Moshe, El'azar the cohen and the community of Isra'el in the camp on the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden across from Yericho.

Moshe, El'azar the cohen and all the community leaders went to meet them outside the camp.

But Moshe was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds coming in from the battlefield.

Moshe asked them, "You let the women live?

Why, these are the ones who - because of Bil'am's advice -caused the people of Isra'el to rebel, breaking faith with ADONAI in the P'or incident, so that the plague broke out among ADONAI's community!

Now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man.

But the young girls who have never slept with a man, keep alive for yourselves.

Pitch your tents outside the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a person or touched the corpse of someone slain, purify yourselves on the third and seventh days, you and your captives.

Also purify every garment, whether of skin or goat's hair, and everything made of wood."

El'azar the cohen said to the soldiers who had gone to the front, "This is the regulation from the Torah which ADONAI has ordered Moshe.

Even though gold, silver, brass, iron, tin and lead

can all withstand fire, so that you are indeed to purify everything made of these materials by having them pass through fire; nevertheless they must also be purified with the water for purification. Everything that can't withstand fire you are to have go through the water.

On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean; after that you may enter the camp."

ADONAI said to Moshe,