1 The Lord said to Moses,
2 “Punish the Midianites for what they did to the people of Israel. After you have done that, you will die.”
3 So Moses said to the people, “Get ready for war, so that you can attack Midian and punish them for what they did to the Lord.
4 From each tribe of Israel send a thousand men to war.”
5 So a thousand men were chosen from each tribe, a total of 12,000 men ready for battle.
6 Moses sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took charge of the sacred objects and the trumpets for giving signals.
7 They attacked Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed all the men,