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.