14. Moses was very angry with the leaders of the army, the commanders of 1000 men, and the commanders of 100 men, who came back from the war.
15. Moses said to them, “Why did you let the women live?
16. These are the women who listened to Balaam and caused the men of Israel to turn away from the Lord that time at Peor. The disease will come to the Lord’S people again.
17. Now, kill all the Midianite boys, and kill all the Midianite women who have had sexual relations with a man.
18. You can let all the young girls live—but only if they never had sexual relations with any man.
19. And then, all you men who killed other people must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must stay outside the camp even if you just touched a dead body. On the third day you and your prisoners must make yourselves pure. You must do the same thing again on the seventh day.
20. You must wash all of your clothes. You must wash anything made with leather, wool, or wood. You must purify yourselves.”
21. Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers. He said, “These are the rules that the Lord gave to Moses for soldiers coming back from war.
22-23. You must put gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead into the fire and then wash these things with the special water to make them pure. If something can be put in the fire, you must put it in fire to purify it. If things cannot be put in fire, you must still wash them with the special water.
24. On the seventh day you must wash all of your clothes. Then you will be pure. After that you can come into camp.”
25. Then the Lord said to Moses,
26. “You, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders should count all the prisoners, animals, and everything the soldiers took in war.
27. Then divide these things between the soldiers who went to war and the rest of the Israelites.