Numbers 31

• 1. Then the LORD said to Moses,
• 2. "Take vengeance on the Midianites for leading the Israelites into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors."
• 3. So Moses said to the people, "Choose some men to fight the LORD's war of vengeance against Midian.
• 4. From each tribe of Israel, send one thousand men into battle."
• 5. So they chose one thousand men from each tribe of Israel, a total of twelve thousand men armed for battle.
• 6. Then Moses sent them out, a thousand men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge.
• 7. They attacked Midian just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men.
• 8. All five of the Midianite kings--Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba--died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
• 9. Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder.
• 10. They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived.
• 11. After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals,
• 12. they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
• 13. Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went to meet them outside the camp.
• 14. But Moses was furious with all the military commanders who had returned from the battle.
• 15. "Why have you let all the women live?" he demanded.
• 16. "These are the very ones who followed Balaam's advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD's people.
• 17. Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man.
• 18. Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves.
• 19. And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days.
• 20. Also, purify all your clothing and everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood."
• 21. Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, "The LORD has given Moses this requirement of the law:
• 22. Anything made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead--
• 23. that is, metals that do not burn--must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. These metal objects must then be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone.
• 24. On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified. Then you may return to the camp."
• 25. And the LORD said to Moses,
• 26. "You and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of each tribe are to make a list of all the plunder taken in the battle, including the people and animals.
• 27. Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people.
• 28. But first give the LORD his share of the captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats that belong to the army. Set apart one out of every five hundred as the LORD's share.
• 29. Give this share of their half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.
• 30. Also take one of every fifty of the captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats in the half that belongs to the people of Israel. Give this share to the Levites in charge of maintaining the LORD's Tabernacle."
• 31. So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
• 32. The plunder remaining from the spoils that the fighting men had taken totaled 675,000 sheep,
• 33. 72,000 cattle,
• 34. 61,000 donkeys,
• 35. and 32,000 young girls.
• 36. So the half of the plunder given to the fighting men totaled 337,500 sheep,
• 37. of which 675 were the LORD's share;
• 38. 36,000 cattle, of which 72 were the LORD's share;
• 39. 30,500 donkeys, of which 61 were the LORD's share;
• 40. 16,000 young girls, of whom 32 were the LORD's share.
• 41. Moses gave all the LORD's share to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had directed him.
• 42. The half of the plunder belonging to the people of Israel, which Moses had separated from the half belonging to the fighting men,
• 43. amounted to 337,500 sheep,
• 44. 36,000 cattle,
• 45. 30,500 donkeys,
• 46. and 16,000 young girls.
• 47. From the half-share given to the people, Moses took one of every fifty prisoners and animals and gave them to the Levites who maintained the LORD's Tabernacle. All this was done just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
• 48. Then all the military commanders came to Moses
• 49. and said, "Sir, we have accounted for all the men who went out to battle under our command; not one of us is missing!
• 50. So we are presenting the items of gold we captured as an offering to the LORD from our share of the plunder--armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This will make atonement for our lives before the LORD."
• 51. So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from all the military commanders, all kinds of jewelry and crafted objects.
• 52. In all, the gold that the commanders presented as a gift to the LORD weighed about 420 pounds.
• 53. All the fighting men had taken some of the plunder for themselves.
• 54. So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gifts from the military commanders and brought the gold to the Tabernacle as a reminder to the LORD that the people of Israel belong to him.

Psalms 75

• 1. We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your mighty miracles.
• 2. God says, "At the time I have planned, I will bring justice against the wicked.
• 3. When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, I am the one who keeps its foundations firm.
• 4. "I warned the proud, `Stop your boasting!' I told the wicked, `Don't raise your fists!
• 5. Don't lift your fists in defiance at the heavens or speak with rebellious arrogance.'"
• 6. For no one on earth--from east or west, or even from the wilderness--can raise another person up.
• 7. It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall.
• 8. For the LORD holds a cup in his hand; it is full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours the wine out in judgment, and all the wicked must drink it, draining it to the dregs.
• 9. But as for me, I will always proclaim what God has done; I will sing praises to the God of Israel.
• 10. For God says, "I will cut off the strength of the wicked, but I will increase the power of the godly."

Isaiah 23

• 1. This message came to me concerning Tyre: Weep, O ships of Tarshish, returning home from distant lands! Weep for your harbor at Tyre because it is gone! The rumors you heard in Cyprus are all true.
• 2. Mourn in silence, you people of the coast and you merchants of Sidon. Your traders crossed the sea,
• 3. sailing over deep waters. They brought you grain from Egypt and harvests from along the Nile. You were the merchandise mart of the world.
• 4. But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon, fortress on the sea. For the sea says, "Now I am childless; I have no sons or daughters."
• 5. When Egypt hears the news about Tyre, there will be great sorrow.
• 6. Flee now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live by the sea!
• 7. How can this silent ruin be all that is left of your once joyous city? What a history was yours! Think of all the colonists you sent to distant lands.
• 8. Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, empire builder and chief trader of the world?
• 9. The LORD Almighty has done it to destroy your pride and show his contempt for all human greatness.
• 10. Come, Tarshish, sweep over your mother Tyre like the flooding Nile, for the city is defenseless.
• 11. The LORD holds out his hand over the seas. He shakes the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia and depleted its strength.
• 12. He says, "Never again will you rejoice, O daughter of Sidon. Once you were a lovely city, but you will never again be strong. Even if you flee to Cyprus, you will find no rest."
• 13. Look at the land of Babylonia--the people of that land are gone! The Assyrians have handed Babylon over to the wild beasts. They have built siege ramps against its walls, torn down its palaces, and turned it into a heap of rubble.
• 14. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your home port is destroyed!
• 15. For seventy years, the length of a king's life, Tyre will be forgotten. But then the city will come back to life and sing sweet songs like a prostitute.
• 16. Long absent from her lovers, she will take a harp, walk the streets, and sing her songs, so that she will again be remembered.
• 17. Yes, after seventy years the LORD will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will return again to all her evil ways around the world.
• 18. But in the end her businesses will give their profits to the LORD. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will be used to provide good food and fine clothing for the LORD's priests.

New Living Translation: 142 of 365 days.