[31:25] The Lord said to Moses,
[31:26] “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.
[31:27] Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community.
[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.
[31:29] Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the Lord.
[31:30] 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.”
[31:31] Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded.
[31:41] So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.
[31:47] From this share Moses took one out of every fifty prisoners and animals, and as the Lord had commanded, gave them to the Levites who were in charge of the Lord's Tent.
[31:48] Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses
[31:49] and reported, “Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing.
[31:50] So we are bringing the gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces that each of us has taken. We offer them to the Lord as a payment for our lives, so that he will protect us.”
[31:51] Moses and Eleazar received the gold, all of which was in the form of ornaments.
[31:52] The total contribution of the officers weighed over four hundred pounds.
[31:53] Those who were not officers kept the loot they had taken.
[31:54] So Moses and Eleazar took the gold to the Tent, so that the Lord would protect the people of Israel.