Numbers 25
Living Bible
25 While Israel was camped at Acacia, some of the young men began going to wild parties with the local Moabite girls. 2 These girls also invited them to attend the sacrifices to their gods, and soon the men were not only attending the feasts, but also bowing down and worshiping the idols. 3 Before long all Israel was joining freely in the worship of Baal, the god of Moab; and the anger of the Lord was hot against his people.
4 He issued the following command to Moses:
“Execute all the tribal leaders of Israel. Hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that his fierce anger will turn away from the people.”
5 So Moses ordered the judges to execute all who had worshiped Baal.
6 But one of the Israeli men insolently brought a Midianite girl into the camp, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as they were weeping at the door of the Tabernacle. 7 When Phinehas (son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest) saw this, he jumped up, grabbed a spear, 8 and rushed after the man into his tent, where he had taken the girl. He thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into her stomach. So the plague was stopped, 9 but only after 24,000 people had already died.
10-11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas (son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest) has turned away my anger for he was angry with my anger, and would not tolerate the worship of any God but me. So I have stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended. 12-13 Now because of what he has done—because of his zeal for his God, and because he has made atonement for the people of Israel by what he did—I promise that he and his descendants shall be priests forever.”
14 The name of the man who was killed with the Midianite girl was Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of the tribe of Simeon. 15 The girl’s name was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a Midianite prince.
16-17 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Destroy the Midianites, 18 for they are destroying you with their wiles. They are causing you to worship Baal, and they are leading you astray, as you have just seen by the death of Cozbi.”
Numbers 25
New King James Version
Israel’s Harlotry in Moab
25 Now Israel remained in (A)Acacia Grove,[a] and the (B)people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 (C)They invited the people to (D)the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and (E)bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and (F)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, (G)“Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, (H)that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to (I)the judges of Israel, (J)“Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”
6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, (K)who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Now (L)when Phinehas (M)the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So (N)the plague was (O)stopped among the children of Israel. 9 And (P)those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 11 (Q)“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in (R)My zeal. 12 Therefore say, (S)‘Behold, I give to him My (T)covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him and (U)his descendants after him a covenant of (V)an everlasting priesthood, because he was (W)zealous for his God, and (X)made [b]atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”
14 Now the name of the Israelite who was killed, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of (Y)Zur; he was head of the people of a father’s house in Midian.
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 17 (Z)“Harass the Midianites, and [c]attack them; 18 for they harassed you with their (AA)schemes[d] by which they seduced you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed in the day of the plague because of Peor.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 25:1 Heb. Shittim
- Numbers 25:13 Lit. covering
- Numbers 25:17 be hostile toward
- Numbers 25:18 tricks
Numbers 25
International Children’s Bible
Israel at Peor
25 The people of Israel were still camped at Acacia. The men began sinning sexually with Moabite women. 2 The women invited them to their sacrifices to their false gods. The Israelites ate food there and worshiped these gods. 3 So the Israelites began to worship Baal of Peor. And the Lord was very angry with them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Get all the leaders of the people. Then kill them in open daylight in the presence of the Lord. Then the Lord will not be angry with the people of Israel.”
5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death your men who have become worshipers of Baal of Peor.”
6 Moses and the Israelites were gathered at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. They were crying there. Then an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman to his brothers. This was in plain sight of Moses and all the people. 7 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this. So he left the meeting and got his spear. 8 He followed the Israelite into his tent. And he drove his spear through both the Israelite man and the Midianite woman. Then the terrible sickness among the Israelites stopped.
9 This sickness had killed 24,000 people.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has saved the Israelites from my anger. He is like I am in his concern for the people. He tried to save my honor among them. So I will not kill them. 12 So tell Phinehas that I am making my peace agreement with him. 13 He and all his descendants will have an agreement. They will always be priests. This is because he had great concern for the honor of his God. He removed the sins of the Israelites so they would belong to God.”
14 The Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was named Zimri son of Salu. He was the leader of a family in the tribe of Simeon. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur. Zur was the chief of a Midianite family.
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “The Midianites are your enemies. You should kill them. 18 They have already made you their enemies. They tricked you at Peor. Then there was Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader. She was the woman who was killed when the sickness came. It came because the people were worshiping the false god at Peor.”
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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