Numbers 31:2, 9-16

“Pay back the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites; after that you will die.”

The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and they took all their flocks, herds, and goods. They burned all the Midianite towns where they had settled and all their camps, but they took all the people and animals and goods. Then they brought the captives, the animals, and the goods back to Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the Israelites. Their camp was on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went outside the camp to meet them. Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders over a thousand men, and those over a hundred men, who returned from war. He asked them, “Why did you let the women live? They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and turned the Israelites from the LORD at Peor. Then a terrible sickness struck the LORD’s people.