Numbers 25
New American Standard Bible
The Sin of Peor
25 While Israel remained at (A)Shittim, the people began (B)to commit infidelity with the daughters of Moab. 2 For (C)they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So (D)Israel [a]became followers of [b]Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and [c]execute them [d]in broad daylight before the Lord, (E)so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you (F)kill his men who have [e]become followers of [f]Baal of Peor.”
6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a (G)Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, (H)while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 (I)When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the inner room of the tent and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through the abdomen. (J)So the plague on the sons of Israel was brought to a halt. 9 (K)But those who died from the plague were twenty-four thousand in number.
The Zeal of Phinehas
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “(L)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was [g]jealous with My [h]jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel (M)in My [i]jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘(N)Behold, I am giving him My (O)covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be for him and for his [j]descendants after him, a covenant of a (P)permanent priesthood, because he was [k]jealous for his God and (Q)made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”
14 Now the name of the [l]dead man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was (R)Cozbi the daughter of (S)Zur, [m]who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “(T)Be hostile to the Midianites and attack them; 18 for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was killed on the day of the plague because of Peor.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 25:3 Lit bound themselves to
- Numbers 25:3 Or Baal-peor
- Numbers 25:4 Lit display them (dead) with broken limbs
- Numbers 25:4 Lit in front of the sun
- Numbers 25:5 Lit bound themselves to
- Numbers 25:5 Or Baal-peor
- Numbers 25:11 Or possibly zealous; i.e., impassioned
- Numbers 25:11 Or possibly anger
- Numbers 25:11 Or possibly anger
- Numbers 25:13 Lit seed
- Numbers 25:13 Or possibly zealous; i.e., impassioned
- Numbers 25:14 Lit killed
- Numbers 25:15 Lit he
Numbers 25
Expanded Bible
Israel Worships Baal at Peor
25 While the people of Israel were still camped at ·Acacia [L Shittim], the men began ·sinning sexually [to prostitute themselves] with Moabite women [C on the advice of Balaam who found another way to get his money; 31:16]. 2 The women invited them to their sacrifices to their gods, and the ·Israelites [L people] ate food there and worshiped these gods. 3 So the Israelites ·began to worship [L yoked themselves to] Baal of Peor, and the Lord was very angry with them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Get all the leaders of the people and ·kill [impale] 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 [kill] your people who have become ·worshipers of [L yoked to] Baal of Peor.”
6 Moses and the Israelites were gathered at the entrance to the Meeting Tent, crying there. Then an ·Israelite man [L man of the sons/T children of Israel] brought a Midianite woman to his ·brothers [family] in plain sight of Moses and all the ·people [community; congregation; assembly]. 7 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, so he ·left the meeting [L rose up from the community/congregation/assembly] and ·got [L took in his hand] his spear. 8 He followed the Israelite into his ·tent [vaulted/newlywed tent] and drove his spear through the belly of both the Israelite man and the Midianite woman [C while they were embracing]. Then the ·terrible sickness [plague] among the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] stopped.
9 This ·sickness [plague] had killed twenty-four thousand people.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has saved the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] from my anger. He hates sin as much as I do. ·Since he tried to save my honor among them [L Because of his zeal in their midst], I will not kill them in my zeal. 12 So tell Phinehas that I am making my ·peace agreement [covenant/treaty of peace] with him. 13 He and his ·descendants [L seed] will ·always be priests [L have a covenant/treaty of eternal/perpetual priesthood], because he had ·great concern for the honor of [L passion/zeal for] his God. He ·removed the sins of the Israelites so they would belong to God [L provided atonement for the sons/T children of Israel].”
14 The Israelite man who was ·killed [L struck] with the Midianite woman was named Zimri son of Salu. He was the leader of a ·family [ancestral clan] in the tribe of Simeon. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was ·put to death [L struck] was Cozbi daughter of Zur, who was the chief of a Midianite ·family [ancestral clan].
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “·The Midianites are your enemies [Harrass the Midianites], and you should ·kill [L strike] them. 18 They have already ·made you their enemies [harrassed you], because they tricked you at Peor and because of their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader. She was the woman who was killed when the ·sickness [plague] came because the people sinned at Peor.”
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