¹ And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab, over against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.

² And Balac the son of Sephor, seeing all that Israel had done to the Amorrhite,

³ And that the Moabites were in great fear of him, and were not able to sustain his assault,

⁴ He said to the elders of Madian: So will this people destroy all that dwell in our borders, as the ox is wont to eat the grass to the very roots. Now he was at that time king in Moab.

⁵ He sent therefore messengers to Balaam the son of Beer, a soothsayer, who dwelt by the river of the land of the children of Ammon, to call him, and to say: Behold a people is come out of Egypt, that hath covered the face of the earth, sitting over against me.

⁶ Come therefore, and curse this people, because it is mightier than I: if by any means I may beat them and drive them out of my land: for I know that he whom thou shalt bless is blessed, and he whom thou shalt curse is cursed.

⁷ And the ancients of Moab, and the elders of Madian, went with the price of divination in their hands. And when they were come to Balaam, and had told him all the words of Balac:

⁸ He answered: Tarry here this night, and I will answer whatsoever the Lord shall say to me. And while they stayed with Balaam, God came and said to him:

⁹ What mean these men that are with thee?

¹⁰ He answered: Balac the son of Sephor king of the Moabites hath sent to me,

¹¹ Saying: Behold a people that is come out of Egypt, hath covered the face of the land: come and curse them, if by any means I may fight with them and drive them away.

¹² And God said to Balaam : Thou shalt not go with them, nor shalt thou curse the people: because it is blessed.

¹³ And he rose in the morning and said to the princes: Go into your country, because the Lord hath forbid me to come with you.

¹⁴ The princes returning, said to Balac: Balaam would not come with us.

¹⁵ Then he sent many more and more noble than he had sent before:

¹⁶ Who, when they were come to Balaam, said: Thus saith Balac the son of Sephor, Delay not to come to me:

¹⁷ For I am ready to honour thee, and will give thee whatsoever thou wilt: come and curse this people.

¹⁸ Balaam answered: If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot alter the word of the Lord my God, to speak either more or less.

¹⁹ I pray you to stay here this night also, that I may know what the Lord will answer me once more.

²⁰ God therefore came to Balaam in the night, and said to him: It these men be come to call thee, arise and go with them: yet so, that thou do what I shall command thee.

²¹ Balaam arose in the morning, and saddling his ass went with them.

²² And God was angry. And an angel of the Lord stood in the way against Balaam, who sat on the ass, and had two servants with him.

²³ The ass seeing the angel standing in the way, with a drawn sword, turned herself out of the way, and went into the field. And when Balaam beat her, and had a mind to bring her again to the way,

²⁴ The angel stood in a narrow place between two walls, wherewith the vineyards were enclosed.

²⁵ And the ass seeing him, thrust herself close to the wall, and bruised the foot of the rider. But he beat her again:

²⁶ And nevertheless the angel going on to a narrow place, where there was no way to turn aside either to the right hand or to the left, stood to meet him.

²⁷ And when the ass saw the angel standing, she fell under the feet of the rider: who being angry beat her sides more vehemently with a staff.

²⁸ And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said: What have I done to thee? Why strikest thou me, lo, now this third time?

²⁹ Balaam answered: Because thou hast deserved it, and hast served me ill: I would I had a sword that I might kill thee.

³⁰ The ass said: Am not I thy beast, on which thou hast been always accustomed to ride until this present day? tell me if I ever did the like thing to thee. But he said: Never.

³¹ Forthwith the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel standing in the way with a drawn sword, and he worshipped him falling flat on the ground.

³² And the angel said to him: Why beatest thou thy ass these three times? I am come to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse, and contrary to me:

³³ And unless the ass had turned out of the way, giving place to me who stood against thee, I had slain thee, and she should have lived.

³⁴ Balaam said: I have sinned, not knowing that thou didst stand against me: and now if it displease thee that I go, I will return.

³⁵ The angel said: Go with these men, and see thou speak no other thing than what I shall command thee. He went therefore with the princes.

³⁶ And when Balac heard it he came forth to meet him in a town of the Moabites, that is situate in the uttermost borders of Arnon.

³⁷ And he said to Balaam: I sent messengers to call thee, why didst thou not come immediately to me? was it because I am not able to reward thy coming?

³⁸ He answered him: Lo, here I am: shall I have power to speak any other thing but that which God shall put in my mouth?

³⁹ So they went on together, and came into a city, that was in the uttermost borders of his kingdom.

⁴⁰ And when Balac had killed oxen and sheep, he sent presents to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

⁴¹ And when morning was come, he brought him to the high places of Baal, and he beheld the uttermost part of the people.

¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

² Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.

³ And Moses forthwith said: Arm of you men to fight, who may take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.

⁴ Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to the war.

⁵ And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve thousand men well appointed for battle.

⁶ And Moses sent them with Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest, and he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.

⁷ And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew all the men.

⁸ And their kings Evi, and Recem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, five princes of the nation: Balaam also the son of Beer they killed with the sword.

⁹ And they took their women, and their children captives, and all their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they plundered:

¹⁰ And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they burned.

¹¹ And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken both of men and of beasts.

¹² And they brought them to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the children of Israel. But the rest of the things for use they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan over against Jericho.

¹³ And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the synagogue went forth to meet them without the camp.

¹⁴ And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,

¹⁵ Said: Why have you saved the women?

¹⁶ Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel by the counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the sin of Phogor, for which also the people was punished?

¹⁷ Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.

¹⁸ But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for yourselves:

¹⁹ And stay without the camp seven days. He that hath killed a man, or touched one that is killed, shall be purified the third day and the seventh day.

²⁰ And of all the spoil, every garment, or vessel, or any thing made for use, of the skins, or hair of goats, or of wood, shall be purified.

²¹ Eleazar also the priest spoke to the men of the army, that had fought, in this manner: This is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord hath commanded Moses:

²² Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lend, and tin,

²³ And all that may pass through the fire, shall be purified by fire, but whatsoever cannot abide the fire, shall be sanctified with the water of expiation:

²⁴ And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being purified, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.

²⁵ And the Lord said to Moses:

²⁶ Take the sum of the things that were taken both of man and beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the multitude:

²⁷ And thou shalt divide the spoil equally, between them that fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.

²⁸ And thou shalt separate a portion to the Lord from them that fought and were in the battle, one soul of five hundred as well of persons as of oxen and asses and sheep.

²⁹ And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the firstfruits of the Lord.

³⁰ Out of the moiety also of the children of Israel thou shalt take the fiftieth head of persons, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and of all beasts, and thou shalt give them to the Levites that watch in the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

³¹ And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.

³² And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,

³³ Seventy-two thousand oxen,

³⁴ Sixty-one thousand asses:

³⁵ And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men.

³⁶ And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:

³⁷ Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six hundred seventy-five sheep.

³⁸ And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:

³⁹ Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:

⁴⁰ Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion of the Lord, thirty-two souls.

⁴¹ And Moses delivered the number of the firstfruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,

⁴² Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated for them that had been in the battle.

⁴³ But out of the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that is to say, out of the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

⁴⁴ And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,

⁴⁵ And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,

⁴⁶ And out of the sixteen thousand persons,

⁴⁷ Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.

⁴⁸ And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and centurions were come to Moses, they said:

⁴⁹ We thy servants have reckoned up the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was wanting.

⁵⁰ Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of us could find in the booty, in garters and tablets, rings and bracelets, and chains, that thou mayst pray to the Lord for us.

⁵¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in divers kinds,

⁵² In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from the tribunes and from the centurions.

⁵³ For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.

⁵⁴ And that which was received they brought into the tabernacle of the testimony, for a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.