Numbers 25
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Israel Worships Baal
25 While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove,[a](A) the people began to prostitute themselves with the women of Moab. 2 The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods.(B) 3 So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Peor,(C) and the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.(D) 4 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the leaders of the people and execute[b] them in broad daylight before the Lord so that his burning anger may turn away from Israel.’
5 So Moses told Israel’s judges, ‘Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor.’
Phinehas Intervenes
6 An Israelite man came bringing a Midianite woman to his relatives in the sight of Moses and the whole Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand, 8 followed the Israelite man into the tent,[c] and drove it through both the Israelite man and the woman – through her belly. Then the plague on the Israelites was stopped, 9 but those who died in the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.(E)
10 The Lord spoke to Moses, 11 ‘Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with my zeal,[d](F) so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my zeal. 12 Therefore declare: I grant him my covenant of peace.(G) 13 It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants,(H) because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.’
14 The name of the slain Israelite man, who was struck dead with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.[e] 15 The name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal head of a family in Midian.
Vengeance against the Midianites
16 The Lord told Moses, 17 ‘Attack the Midianites and strike them dead. 18 For they attacked you with the treachery that they used against you in the Peor incident. They did the same in the case involving their sister Cozbi, daughter of the Midianite leader who was killed the day the plague came at Peor.’
Numbers 25
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 25
Israel Worships Baal of Peor. 1 While Israel dwelt in Shittim,[a] the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 They invited the people to sacrifice to their gods. The people ate and worshiped their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal[b] of Peor. The Lord grew angry at Israel 4 and the Lord said to Moses, “Take all of the leaders of the people and hang them before the Lord in broad daylight[c] so that the rage of the Lord turns away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you is to kill those who joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 Then one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his relatives before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of the whole assembly of the people of Israel who were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
Phinehas’ Zeal for God. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly, taking a spear in his hand. 8 He followed the Israelite into the tent. He then drove it through both of them, through the Israelite and into the woman’s stomach. This is how the plague among the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Yet, twenty-four thousand died[d] in the plague.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has calmed my anger at the people of Israel. He was zealous for my sake among them so that I not consume the people of Israel in my zeal. 12 Therefore, say, ‘I establish my covenant of peace with him. 13 He will have it, and his descendants after him, as a covenant for an everlasting priesthood. He was zealous for his God, and he made atonement for the people of Israel.’ ”
14 Now the name of the Israelite who was slain along with the Midianite woman was Zimri, the son of Salu, a leader of the ancestral tribe of the Simeonites. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal leader of an ancestral tribe of Midian.
16 Downfall of the Midianites. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Harass the Midianites and slay them 18 for they harassed you with their schemes when they seduced you in the affair at Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 25:1 Shittim: opposite Jericho, on the other side of the Jordan. See Jos 2:1.
- Numbers 25:3 Baal: means “Lord” and was the generic name for the divinities of the Canaanites. See Num 31:16; Deut 4:3; 1 Cor 10:8.
- Numbers 25:4 Hang them before the Lord in broad daylight: a public display of those who had sinned might dissuade others from straying.
- Numbers 25:9 Twenty-four thousand died: the worship of Baal had a devastating effect on the people of Israel. The numbers are corroborated in the decrease from the first census to the second (see Num 1:44-46; 26:51).
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