Numbers 25
1 When the Israelites were staying at Shittim the men started to have sex with Moabite women
Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;
2 who invited them to the sacrifices made to their gods. The Israelites ate the pagan meals and bowed down before these gods.
for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 In this way the Israelites devoted themselves in worship to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with them.
Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.
4 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.”
The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to the LORD before the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.”
5 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.”
Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”
6 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.
Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
7 When he saw this, Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, left the assembly, grabbed a spear
When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.
8 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,
He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel.
9 but 24,000 had already died.
Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
10 The Lord told Moses,
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
11 “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.
“Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy.
12 So make an announcement that I am granting him my peace agreement.
Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace.
13 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.”
It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”
14 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.
Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house among the Simeonites.
15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a family leader of a Midianite tribe.
The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian.
16 The Lord told Moses,
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
17 “Attack the Midianites and kill them,
“Harass the Midianites, and strike them;
18 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.”
for they harassed you with their wiles, wherein they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the incident regarding Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.”
