1. The Lord spoke to Moses and said,
2. “Pay back the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites; after that you will die.”
3. So Moses said to the people, “Get some men ready for war. The Lord will use them to pay back the Midianites.
4. Send to war a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.”
5. So twelve thousand men got ready for war, a thousand men from each tribe.
6. Moses sent those men to war; Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest was with them. He took with him the holy things and the trumpets for giving the alarm.
7. They fought the Midianites as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every Midianite man.