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
Lexham English Bible
The Plague of Israel
25 When Israel dwelled in Shittim, the people began to prostitute[a] themselves with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and worshiped their gods. 3 So Israel was joined together to Baal Peor, and Yahweh became angry[b] with Israel. 4 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the leaders[c] of the people and kill them before the sun, so the fierce anger of Yahweh will turn from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill his men who are joined together with Baal Peor.”
6 And behold, a man from the Israelites[d] came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of all of the community of the Israelites,[e] and they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of assembly. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest saw, he got up from the midst of the community and took a spear in his hand. 8 He went after the man of Israel into the woman’s section of the tent, and he drove the two of them, the man of Israel and the woman, into her belly. And the plague among the Israelites[f] stopped. 9 The ones who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
10 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, turned away my anger from among the Israelites[g] when he was jealous with my jealousy in their midst, and I did not destroy the Israelites[h] with my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I am giving to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it will be for him and his offspring[i] after him a covenant of an eternal priesthood because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.’”[j]
14 The name of the man of Israel who was struck with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of the family[k] of the Simeonites.[l] 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was struck was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a leader[m] of a tribe of the family[n] in Midian.
16 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Attack the Midianites and strike them 18 because they were attacking you with their deception, with which they have deceived you on the matter of Peor and on the matter of Cozbi the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was struck on the day of the plague because of the matter of Peor.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 25:1 Or “have sexual relations”
- Numbers 25:3 Literally “the nose of Yahweh became hot”
- Numbers 25:4 Literally “the heads”
- Numbers 25:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 25:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 25:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 25:11 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 25:11 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 25:13 Literally “seed”
- Numbers 25:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 25:14 Or “the father’s house” or “the ancestor’s house”
- Numbers 25:14 Hebrew “Simeonite”
- Numbers 25:15 Literally “a head”
- Numbers 25:15 Or “the father’s house” or “the ancestor’s house”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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