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).
Numbers 25
King James Version
25 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.
5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up 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 belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.
15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.
16 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.
