Vengeance on Midian

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²n“Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall obe gathered to your people.” ³So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian. ⁴You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand parmed for war. ⁶And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and qthe trumpets for the alarm in his hand. ⁷They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and rkilled every male. ⁸They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, sEvi, Rekem, tZur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed uBalaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their vencampments, they burned with fire, ¹¹wand took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. ¹²Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on xthe plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹³Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴And Moses was angry with ythe officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. ¹⁵Moses said to them, “Have you zlet all the women live? ¹⁶Behold, athese, bon Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of cPeor, and so dthe plague came among the congregation of the Lord. ¹⁷Now therefore, ekill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. ¹⁸But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him fkeep alive for yourselves. ¹⁹gEncamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and hwhoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. ²⁰You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: ²²only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified iwith the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. ²⁴You must jwash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”

²⁵The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶“Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, ²⁷and kdivide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. ²⁸And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, lone out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. ²⁹Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. ³⁰And from the people of Israel's half you shall take mone drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites nwho keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” ³¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³²Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, ³³72,000 cattle, ³⁴61,000 donkeys, ³⁵and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. ³⁶And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, ³⁷and othe Lord's tribute of sheep was 675. ³⁸The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 72. ³⁹The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord's tribute was 61. ⁴⁰The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 32 persons. ⁴¹And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, pas the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴²From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— ⁴³now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵and 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶and 16,000 persons— ⁴⁷qfrom the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸Then rthe officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses ⁴⁹and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. ⁵⁰And we have brought the Lord's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, sto make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” ⁵¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. ⁵²And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.1 ⁵³t(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) ⁵⁴And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, uas a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.

Psalm 75

God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to lDo Not Destroy. mA Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹We give thanks to you, O God;

we give thanks, for your name is nnear.

We1 recount your wondrous deeds.

²“At othe set time that I appoint

I will judge pwith equity.

³When the earth qtotters, and all its inhabitants,

it is I who keep steady its rpillars. Selah

⁴I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’

and to the wicked, s‘Do not lift up your horn;

⁵do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with haughty neck.’”

⁶For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes tlifting up,

⁷but it is uGod who executes judgment,

vputting down one and lifting up another.

⁸wFor in the hand of the Lord there is xa cup

with foaming wine, ywell mixed,

and he pours out from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall zdrain it down to the dregs.

⁹But I will declare it forever;

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰aAll the horns of the wicked I will cut off,

bbut the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Psalm 76

Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with cstringed instruments. A Psalm of dAsaph. A Song.

¹In Judah God is eknown;

his name is great in Israel.

²His fabode has been established in gSalem,

his hdwelling place in Zion.

³There he ibroke the flashing arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

⁴Glorious are you, more majestic

jthan the mountains full of kprey.

⁵lThe stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;

mthey sank into sleep;

all the men of war

were unable to use their hands.

⁶At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both nrider and horse lay stunned.

⁷oBut you, you are to be feared!

Who can pstand before you

when once your anger is roused?

⁸From the heavens you uttered judgment;

qthe earth feared and was still,

⁹when God rarose to establish judgment,

to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

¹⁰Surely sthe wrath of man shall praise you;

the remnant1 of wrath you will put on like a belt.

¹¹tMake your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;

let all around him ubring gifts

to him who vis to be feared,

¹²who wcuts off the spirit of princes,

who xis to be feared by the kings of the earth.

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

¹The ioracle concerning jTyre.

Wail, O kships of Tarshish,

for Tyre is laid waste, lwithout house or harbor!

From mthe land of Cyprus1

it is revealed to them.

²Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

the merchants of nSidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.

³And on many waters

your revenue was the grain of Shihor,

the harvest of the Nile;

you were othe merchant of the nations.

⁴Be ashamed, O nSidon, for the sea has spoken,

the stronghold of the sea, saying:

“I have neither labored nor given birth,

I have neither reared young men

nor brought up young women.”

⁵When the report comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguish2 over the report about Tyre.

⁶pCross over to Tarshish;

wail, O inhabitants of the coast!

⁷Is this your exultant city

qwhose origin is from days of old,

whose feet carried her

to settle far away?

⁸Who has purposed this

against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants were princes,

whose traders were the honored of the earth?

⁹The Lord of hosts has purposed it,

rto defile the pompous pride of all glory,3

to dishonor all the honored of the earth.

¹⁰Cross over your land like the Nile,

O daughter of Tarshish;

there is no restraint anymore.

¹¹sHe has stretched out his hand over the sea;

he has shaken the kingdoms;

the Lord has given command concerning Canaan

to destroy its strongholds.

¹²And he said:

“You will no more exult,

O oppressed virgin daughter of tSidon;

arise, ucross over to vCyprus,

even there you will have no rest.”

¹³Behold the land of wthe Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;4 Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected xtheir siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

¹⁴yWail, O ships of Tarshish,

for your stronghold is laid waste.

¹⁵In that day Tyre will be forgotten for zseventy years, like the days5 of one king. At the end of zseventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

¹⁶“Take a harp;

go about the city,

O forgotten prostitute!

Make sweet melody;

sing many songs,

that you may be remembered.”

¹⁷At the end of aseventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and bwill prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. ¹⁸Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.

The Word of Life

¹aThat which was bfrom the beginning, cwhich we have heard, dwhich we have seen with our eyes, ewhich we looked upon and fhave touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ²gthe life hwas made manifest, and we have seen it, and itestify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, awhich was with the Father and hwas made manifest to us— ³cthat which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed jour fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴And we are writing these things so kthat our1 joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

⁵lThis is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that mGod is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶nIf we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and odo not practice the truth. ⁷But pif we walk in the light, qas he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and rthe blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸sIf we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and tthe truth is not in us. ⁹uIf we confess our sins, he is vfaithful and just to forgive us our sins and rto cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say we have not sinned, wwe make him a liar, and xhis word is not in us.