Numbers 25

1 And Israel at that time abode in Settim, and the people committed fornication with the daughters of Moab,

When the Israelites were staying at Shittim the men started to have sex with Moabite women

2 Who called them to their sacrifices. And they ate of them, and adored their gods.

who invited them to the sacrifices made to their gods. The Israelites ate the pagan meals and bowed down before these gods.

3 And Israel was initiated to Beelphegor: upon which the Lord being angry,

In this way the Israelites devoted themselves in worship to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with them.

4 Said to Moses: Take all the princes of the people, and hang them up on gibbets against the sun: that my fury may be turned away from Israel.

The Lord told Moses, “Arrest all the Israelite leaders and kill them before the Lord where everyone can see in order to turn the Lord's furious anger away from the people.”

5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel: Let every man kill his neighbours, that have been initiated to Beelphegor.

So Moses instructed Israel's judges, “Each of you has to kill all of your men who have devoted themselves to worshiping Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold one of the children of Israel went in before his brethren to a harlot of Madian, in the sight of Moses, and of all the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle.

Right then an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman to his family tent in full view of Moses and all the Israelites as they were crying at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

7 And when Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saw it, he rose up from the midst; of the multitude, and taking a dagger,

When he saw this, Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, left the assembly, grabbed a spear

8 Went in after the Israelite into the brothel house, and thrust both of them through together, to wit, the man and the woman in the genital parts. And the scourge ceased from the children of Israel:

and followed the man into his tent. There Phinehas drove the spear through both of them, through the Israelite and on into the woman's stomach. This action stopped the plague that had started to kill the Israelites,

9 And there were slain four and twenty thousand men.

but 24,000 had already died.

10 And the Lord said to Moses:

The Lord told Moses,

11 Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned away my wrath from the children of Israel: because he was moved with my zeal against them, that I myself might not destroy the children of Israel in my zeal.

“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, because out of all of them he was passionately dedicated to me, so I did not destroy the Israelites in my passionate anger.

12 Therefore say to him: Behold I give him the peace of my covenant,

So make an announcement that I am granting him my peace agreement.

13 And the covenant of the priesthood for ever shall be both to him and his seed, because he hath been zealous for his God, and hath made atonement for the wickedness of the children of Israel.

It will be an agreement that ensures a permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was passionately dedicated to his God and set the Israelites right.”

14 And the name of the Israelite, was slain with the woman of Madian, was Zambri the son of Salu, a prince the kindred and tribe of Simeon.

The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri, son of Salu, a family leader of the tribe of Simeon.

15 And the Madianite woman, that was slain with him, was called Cozbi the daughter of Sur, a most noble prince among the Madianites.

The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a family leader of a Midianite tribe.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

The Lord told Moses,

17 Let the Madianites find you enemies, and slay you them:

“Attack the Midianites and kill them,

18 Because they also have acted like enemies against you, and have guilefully deceived you by the idol Phogor, and Cozbi their sister, a daughter of a prince of Madian, who was slain in the day the plague for the sacrilege of Phogor.

because they attacked you deceptively, leading you astray by using Peor and their woman Cozbi, the daughter of the Midianite leader—the woman who was killed on the day the plague came because of their devotion to Peor.”