Numbers 31:12
And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
The captives and the prey and the spoil taken in the war against Midian were brought to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho. That return of plunder to the appointed leaders and to the whole assembly marked the close of a campaign undertaken in obedience to God's command to avenge Israel upon Midian. The vengeance was required because the Midianites had seduced Israel into sin.
The campaign was an act of divine judgment, by which God protected Israel from the determined efforts of the Midianites to destroy them. In executing it Israel was to act simply as God's instruments, with no malice or spirit of revenge, but moved by zeal for the glory of God. In the course of the fighting the kings of Midian were slain, and Balaam also was killed, while the captive women who were brought in were afterward put to death as especially guilty and dangerous enemies.