Numbers 25

1 Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;

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].

2 for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods.

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.

3 Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

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.

4 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.”

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.”

5 Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”

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

6 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.

[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].

7 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.

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

8 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.

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.

9 Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

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

10 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

11 “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.

“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.

12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace.

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

13 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.’”

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.”

14 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.

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.

15 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.

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.

16 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

17 “Harass the Midianites, and strike them;

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

18 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.”

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].”