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Sunday, April 19th, 2026
the Third Sunday after Easter
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Good News Translation

Numbers 31:28

From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the Lord one out of every five hundred prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Armies;   Priest;   Servant;   Spoils;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;   Heave-Offering;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Midianites;   Spoil;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Beeves;   Booty;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Priest;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Levy;   Nethinim;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Beeves,;   Eleazar ;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Booty;   Priest;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Booty;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Priesthood, the;   On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Person;   Slave;   Tax;   Tribute;   War;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Priestly Code;   Sidra;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Levy a tribute to the LORD of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the donkeys, and of the flocks:
King James Version
And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:
Lexham English Bible
Exact a tribute for Yahweh from the men of the war, those who went out to the battle, one from five hundred persons, and from the cattle and from the male donkeys and from the flock;
English Standard Version
And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks.
New Century Version
From the soldiers who went to war, take a tax for the Lord of one item out of every five hundred. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.
New English Translation
"You must exact a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of five hundred, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep.
Amplified Bible
"Levy a tax for the LORD from the warriors who went to battle, one in five hundred of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, and the flocks.
New American Standard Bible
"Also, collect a tribute tax for the LORD from the men of war who went to battle, one in five hundred of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep;
Geneva Bible (1587)
And thou shalt take a tribute vnto ye Lord of the men of warre, which went out to battel: one person of fiue hundreth, both of the persons, and of the beeues, & of the asses, & of the sheepe.
Legacy Standard Bible
And you shall exact a levy for Yahweh from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep;
Contemporary English Version
From the half that belongs to the soldiers, set aside for the Lord one out of every five hundred people or animals and give these to Eleazar.
Complete Jewish Bible
From the portion of the soldiers who went out to battle, levy a tax for Adonai consisting of one-five-hundredth of the persons, cattle, donkeys and sheep;
Darby Translation
And thou shalt levy a tribute for Jehovah of the men of war who went out to the army, one soul of five hundred of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the small cattle.
Easy-to-Read Version
Take part of these things from the soldiers who went to war. That part will belong to the Lord . His share is one from every 500 items. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, and sheep.
George Lamsa Translation
And levy a tribute for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle; out of all the congregation, one person of every five hundred, both of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the sheep;
Christian Standard Bible®
Set aside a tribute for the Lord from what belongs to the fighting men who went out to war: one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.
Literal Translation
And you shall levy a tribute to Jehovah from the men of war who went out to the battle: one body out of five hundred, of men, and of the herd, and of the asses, and of the flock,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And of the men of warre that wente out to ye battayll, thou shalt heue vnto the LORDE one soule of fyue hundreth, both of the wemen, oxen, Asses and shepe:
American Standard Version
And levy a tribute unto Jehovah of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the flocks:
Bible in Basic English
And from the men of war who went out let there be offered to the Lord one out of every five hundred, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And take a tribute vnto the Lorde of the men of warre which went out to battayle: one soule of fiue hundred, both of the persons, and of the beefes, and of the asses, and of the sheepe.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
and levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the flocks;
King James Version (1611)
And leuie a tribute vnto the Lord of the men of warre which went out to battell: one soule of fiue hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeues, and of the asses, and of the sheepe.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And ye shall take a tribute for the Lord from the warriors that went out to battle; one soul out of five hundred, from the men, and from the cattle, even from the oxen, and from the sheep, and from the asses; and ye shall take from their half.
English Revised Version
and levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the flocks:
Berean Standard Bible
Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thou schalt departe a part to the Lord, of hem that fouyten, and weren in batel, `o soule of fiue hundrid, as wel of men, as of oxun, and of assis, and of scheep.
Young's Literal Translation
and thou hast raised a tribute to Jehovah from the men of war, who go out to the host, one body out of five hundred, of man, and of the herd, and of the asses, and of the flock;
Update Bible Version
And levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred of man, and of the oxen, and of the donkeys, and of the flocks:
Webster's Bible Translation
And levy a tribute to the LORD of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:
World English Bible
Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the donkeys, and of the flocks:
New King James Version
And levy a tribute for the LORD on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep;
New Living Translation
From the army's portion, first give the Lord his share of the plunder—one of every 500 of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.
New Life Bible
Then take a tax for the Lord from the men of war who went out to battle. Take one out of 500 of the persons and the cattle and the donkeys and the sheep.
New Revised Standard
From the share of the warriors who went out to battle, set aside as tribute for the Lord , one item out of every five hundred, whether persons, oxen, donkeys, sheep, or goats.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shalt thou levy a tribute unto Yahweh - from the men of war, who went forth in the host, one living thing, out of five hundred, - of the human beings, and of the herd, and of the asses and of the flock:
Douay-Rheims Bible
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.
Revised Standard Version
And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the flocks;
THE MESSAGE
"Then tax the booty that goes to the soldiers at the rate of one life out of five hundred, whether humans, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. It's a God -tax taken from their half-share to be turned over to Eleazar the priest on behalf of God . Tax the congregation's half-share at the rate of one life out of fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, or other animals. Give this to the Levites who are in charge of the care of God 's Dwelling."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Levy a tax for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep;

Contextual Overview

25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 "You and Eleazar, together with the other leaders of the community, are to count everything that has been captured, including the prisoners and the animals. 27 Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community. 28 From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the Lord one out of every five hundred prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29 Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the Lord . 30 From the part given to the rest of the people, take one out of every fifty prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the Lord 's Tent." 31 Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded. 32The following is a list of what was captured by the soldiers, in addition to what they kept for themselves: 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins. 36The half share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the Lord ; 36,000 cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the Lord ; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the Lord ; and 16,000 virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the Lord . 41 So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the Lord , as the Lord had commanded.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

levy: Genesis 14:20, Joshua 6:19, Joshua 6:24, 2 Samuel 8:11, 2 Samuel 8:12, 1 Chronicles 18:11, 1 Chronicles 26:26, 1 Chronicles 26:27, Proverbs 3:9, Proverbs 3:10, Isaiah 18:7, Isaiah 23:18, Isaiah 60:9, Matthew 22:21

one soul: Numbers 31:30, Numbers 31:47, Numbers 18:26

Reciprocal: Numbers 31:32 - the booty Deuteronomy 16:10 - a tribute 2 Chronicles 15:11 - offered

Cross-References

Genesis 29:13
and when he heard the news about his nephew Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him and kissed him, and brought him into the house. When Jacob told Laban everything that had happened,
Genesis 31:3
Then the Lord said to him, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you."
Genesis 31:13
I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you dedicated a stone as a memorial by pouring olive oil on it and where you made a vow to me. Now get ready and go back to the land where you were born.'"
Genesis 31:24
In a dream that night God came to Laban and said to him, "Be careful not to threaten Jacob in any way."
Genesis 31:55
Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters good-bye, and left to go back home.
Exodus 4:27
Meanwhile the Lord had said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he went to meet him at the holy mountain; and when he met him, he kissed him.
Ruth 1:9
And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home." So Naomi kissed them good-bye. But they started crying
Ruth 1:14
Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home, but Ruth held on to her.
1 Samuel 13:13
"That was a foolish thing to do," Samuel answered. "You have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. If you had obeyed, he would have let you and your descendants rule over Israel forever.
1 Kings 19:20
Elisha then left his oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you." Elijah answered, "All right, go back. I'm not stopping you!"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war, which went out to battle,.... That is, out of the part of the prey which was divided to them:

one soul of five hundred, both "of the persons"; or one woman of five hundred, as the Targum of Jonathan:

and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep; that is, one out of five hundred, of each of them also.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 31:28. And levy a tribute unto the Lord - one soul of five hundred, &c. — The person to be employed in the Lord's service, under the Levites-the cattle either for sacrifice, or for the use of the Levites, Numbers 31:30. Some monsters have supposed that one out of every five hundred of the captives was offered in sacrifice to the Lord! but this is abominable. When God chose to have the life of a man, he took it in the way of justice, as in the case of Midianites above, but never in the way of sacrifice.


 
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