¹⁶ Look, ^(A)these women caused the children of Israel, through the ^(B)counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and ^(C)there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.

¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of ^(A)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

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.

¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of ^(A)Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, ^(B)to eat things sacrificed to idols, ^(C)and to commit sexual immorality.

¹⁷ Is the iniquity ^(A)of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord,

³ Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at ^(A)Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor.

¹⁸ for they harassed you with their ^(A)schemes^[a] 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.”

¹⁴ And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, ^(A)I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the ^(B)latter days.”