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.

¹ And the Lord said to Aaron: Thou, and thy sons, and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the sins of your priesthood.

² And take with thee thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, and the sceptre of thy father, and let them be ready in hand, and minister to thee: but thou and thy sons shall minister in the tabernacle of the testimony.

³ And the Levites shall watch to do thy commands, and about all the works of the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary nor the altar, lest both they die, and you also perish with them.

⁴ But let them be with thee, and watch in the charge of the tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof. A stranger shall not join himself with you.

⁵ Watch ye in the charge of the sanctuary, and in the ministry of the altar: lest indignation rise upon the children of Israel.

⁶ I have given you your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel, and have delivered them for a gift to the Lord, to serve in the ministries of the tabernacle.

⁷ But thou and thy sons look ye to the priesthood: and all things that pertain to the service of the altar, and that are within the veil, shall be executed by the priests. If any stranger shall approach, he shall be slain.

⁸ And the Lord said to Aaron: Behold I have given thee the charge of my firstfruits. All things that are sanctified by the children of Israel, I have delivered to thee and to thy sons for the priestly office, by everlasting ordinances.

⁹ These therefore shalt thou take of the things that are sanctified, and are offered to the Lord. Every offering, and sacrifice, and whatsoever is rendered to me for sin and for trespass, and becometh holy of holies, shall be for thee and thy sons.

¹⁰ Thou shalt eat it in the sanctuary: the males only shall eat thereof, because it is a consecrated thing to thee.

¹¹ But the firstfruits, which the children of Israel shall vow and offer, I have given to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters, by a perpetual law. He that is clean in thy house, shall eat them.

¹² All the best of the oil, and of the wine, and of the corn, whatsoever firstfruits they offer to the Lord, I have given them to thee.

¹³ All the firstripe of the fruits, that the ground bringeth forth, and which are brought to the Lord, shall be for thy use: he that is clean in thy house, shall eat them.

¹⁴ Every thing that the children of Israel shall give by vow, shall be thine.

¹⁵ Whatsoever is firstborn of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it be of men, or of beasts, shall belong to thee: only for the firstborn of man thou shalt take a price, and every beast that is unclean thou shalt cause to be redeemed,

¹⁶ And the redemption of it shall be after one month, for five sicles of silver, by the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

¹⁷ But the firstling of a cow and of a sheep and of a goat thou shalt not cause to be redeemed, because they are sanctified to the Lord. Their blood only thou shalt pour upon the altar, and their fat thou shalt burn for a most sweet odour to the Lord.

¹⁸ But the flesh shall fall to thy use, as the consecrated breast, and the right shoulder shall be thine.

¹⁹ All the firstfruits of the sanctuary which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to thee and to thy sons and daughters, by a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord, to thee and to thy sons.

²⁰ And the Lord said to Aaron: You shall possess nothing in their land, neither shall you have a portion among them: I am thy portion and inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.

²¹ And I have given to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel for a possession for the ministry wherewith they serve me in the tabernacle of the covenant:

²² That the children of Israel may not approach any more to the tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin,

²³ But only the sons of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle, and bear the sins of the people. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. They shall not possess any other thing,

²⁴ But be content with the oblation or tithes, which I have separated for their uses and necessities.

²⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

²⁶ Command the Levites, and declare unto them: When you shall receive of the children of Israel the tithes, which I have given you, offer the firstfruits of them to the Lord, that is to say, the tenth part of the tenth:

²⁷ That it may be reckoned to you as an oblation of firstfruits, as well of the barnfloors as of the winepresses:

²⁸ And of all the things of which you receive tithes, offer the firstfruits to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the priest.

²⁹ All the things that you shall offer of the tithes, and shall separate for the gifts of the Lord, shall be the best and choicest things.

³⁰ And thou shalt say to them: If you offer all the goodly and the better things of the tithes, it shall be reckoned to you as if you had given the firstfruits of the barnfloor and the winepress:

³¹ And you shall eat them in all your places, both you and your families: because it is your reward for the ministry, wherewith you serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.

³² And you shall not sin in this point, by reserving the choicest and fat things to yourselves, lest you profane the oblations of the children of Israel, and die.