Numbers 25
1 And Israel sojourned in Sattin, and the people profaned itself by going a-whoring after the daughters of Moab.
When the Israelites were staying at Shittim the men started to have sex with Moabite women
2 And they called them to the sacrifices of their idols; and the people ate of their sacrifices, and worshipped their idols.
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 consecrated themselves to Beel-phegor; and the Lord was very angry with Israel.
In this way the Israelites devoted themselves in worship to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with them.
4 And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the princes of the people, and make them examples [of judgment] for the Lord in the face of the sun, and the anger of the Lord shall 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 tribes of Israel, Slay you every one his friend that is consecrated to Beel-phegor.
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, a man of the children of Israel came and brought his brother to a Madianitish woman before Moses, and before all the congregation of the children of Israel; and they were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of witness.
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 Phinees the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, and rose out of the midst of the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand,
When he saw this, Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, left the assembly, grabbed a spear
8 and went in after the Israelitish man into the chamber, and pierced them both through, both the Israelitish man, and the woman through her womb; and the plague was stayed 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 those that died in the plague were four and twenty thousand.
but 24,000 had already died.
10 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
11 Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest has caused my wrath to cease from the children of Israel, when I was exceedingly jealous among them, and I did not consume the children of Israel in my jealousy.
“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 Thus do you say [to him], Behold, I give him a covenant of peace:
So make an announcement that I am granting him my peace agreement.
13 and he and his seed after him shall have a perpetual covenant of priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for 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 Now the name of the struck Israelitish man, who was struck with the Madianitish woman, [was] Zambri son of Salmon, prince of a house of the tribe of Symeon.
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 name of the Madianitish woman who was struck, [was] Chasbi, daughter of Sur, a prince of the nation of Ommoth: it is a chief house among the people of Madiam.
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, Speak to the children of Israel, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
17 Plague the Madianites as enemies, and strike them,
“Attack the Midianites and kill them,
18 for they are enemies to you by the treachery wherein they ensnare you through Phogor, and through Chasbi their sister, daughter of a prince of Madiam, who was struck in the day of the plague because 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.”
