Numbers 25

1 While the Israelis were camped at a place called Acacia [Grove], some of the men caused themselves to become unacceptable to God by having sex with some of the women of the Moab [people-group who lived in that area].

Now when Israel was living in Shittim the people became false to the Lord, doing evil with the daughters of Moab:

2 Then those women invited the men to come when the sacrifices were being offered to their gods. The Israeli men [accepted]. They went to the feasts with the women and worshiped the gods of the Moab people-group.

For they sent for the people to be present at the offerings made to their gods; and the people took part in their feasts and gave honour to their gods.

3 By doing that, those Israeli people joined the women in worshiping the god Baal [add] the Moab people-group thought lived on Peor Mountain. That caused Yahweh to become very angry with his people.

So Israel had relations with the women of Moab in honour of the Baal of Peor: and the Lord was moved to wrath against Israel.

4 Yahweh said this to Moses/me: “Seize all the leaders of those men who are doing this and execute them while I am watching. Do that in the daytime. After you do that, I will no longer be angry with the Israeli people.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, hanging them up in the sun before the Lord, so that the wrath of the Lord may be turned from Israel.

5 So Moses/I said to the other Israeli leaders, “Each of you must execute your men who have joined [others] in worshiping Baal.”

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Let everyone put to death those of his men who have had relations with the women of Moab in honour of the Baal of Peor.

6 [But later], while Moses/I and many [HYP] other people were crying at the entrance of the Sacred Tent, while they/we were watching, one of the Israeli men brought a woman from the Midian people-group into his tent [and started to have sex with her].

Then one of the children of Israel came to his brothers, taking with him a woman of Midian, before the eyes of Moses and all the meeting of the people, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of meeting.

7 When Phinehas, who was the grandson of Aaron, saw that, he grabbed a spear

And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, seeing it, got up from among the people and took a spear in his hand,

8 and rushed into the man’s tent. He thrust the spear completely through the man’s body and into the woman’s belly [and killed both of them]. When he did that, the (plague/serious illness) [that had started to strike the Israelis] stopped.

And went after the man of Israel into the tent, driving the spear through the two of them, through the man of Israel and through the stomach of the woman. So the disease was stopped among the children of Israel.

9 But 24,000 people had already died [from that plague].

But twenty-four thousand of them had come to their death by the disease.

10 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

And the Lord said to Moses,

11 “Phinehas has caused me to stop being angry with the Israeli people, by being as eager as I am [to stop this sinful behavior]. I was ready to get rid of all the Israeli people because I was extremely angry, but Phinehas has prevented me from doing that.

Through Phinehas, and because of his passion for my honour, my wrath has been turned away from the children of Israel, so that I have not sent destruction on them all in my wrath.

12 Now tell him that I am making a special peace agreement with him.

So say to them that I will make with him an agreement of peace:

13 In this agreement, I am promising to give to him and to his descendants the right/authority to be priests. I am doing this because [he showed that] he was very eager to honor me, his God, by stopping this sinful behavior. He has caused the Israeli people to become acceptable to me again by causing them to be forgiven for their sin.”

And by this agreement, he and his sons after him have the right to be priests for ever; because, by his care for the honour of his God, he took away the sin of the children of Israel.

14 The Israeli man who was killed with the woman of the Moab people-group was named Zimri. He was the son of Salu, who was the leader of a family from the tribe of Simeon.

Now the man of Israel who was put to death with the woman of Midian was Zimri, the son of Salu, a chief of one of the families of the Simeonites.

15 The woman’s name was Cozbi. She was the daughter of Zur, who was the leader of one of the clans of the Midian people-group.

And the woman of Midian who was put to death was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was the head of a family in Midian.

16 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

Then the Lord said to Moses,

17 “[Take your men and] attack the Midian people-group and kill them.

Take up arms against the Midianites and overcome them;

18 They have become your enemies, because they tricked you Israeli people and induced/persuaded many of you to worship Baal, and because [one of your men had sex with] Cozbi, who was the daughter of a leader of the Midian people-group. She was killed at the time the plague [started because the people sinned] at Peor [Mountain].”

For they are a danger to you with their false ways, causing sin to come on you in the question of Peor, and because of Cozbi, their sister, the daughter of the chief of Midian, who was put to death at the time of the disease which came on you because of Peor.