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
English Standard Version
Baal Worship at Peor
25 While Israel lived in (A)Shittim, (B)the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 (C)These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, (D)“Take all the chiefs of the people and (E)hang[a] them in the sun before the Lord, (F)that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to (G)the judges of Israel, (H)“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were (I)weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 (J)When Phinehas (K)the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, (L)those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
The Zeal of Phinehas
10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he (M)was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in (N)my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, (O)‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to (P)his descendants after him the covenant of (Q)a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”
14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of (R)Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 (S)“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their (T)wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of (U)Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 25:4 Or impale
Numbers 25
Evangelical Heritage Version
Israel Worships Baal
25 While Israel stayed in Shittim,[a] the people started to commit sexual immorality with the women of Moab. 2 The women invited the people to the sacrifices for their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 The Israelites attached themselves to[b] the Baal of Peor. The Lord’s anger burned against Israel. 4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the heads of the people and impale them before the Lord in broad daylight so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”
5 Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill any of his men who have attached themselves to the Baal of Peor.”
The Result of the Baal Worship
6 Just then, an Israelite man came and brought a Midianite woman to his brothers in the sight of Moses and the entire Israelite community, while the people were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he rose up from the middle of the assembly and took a spear in his hand. 8 He followed the Israelite man into the large tent and ran both of them through, the Israelite man and the woman, right through her belly. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped. 9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000.
10 The Lord spoke to Moses: 11 “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, because he was very zealous for me among you. So I did not put an end to the Israelites in my zeal. 12 Therefore say, ‘Look, I myself will give to him my covenant of peace. 13 He and his descendants after him will have the covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.’”
14 The name of the Israelite man who was struck dead, who was struck dead with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, a tribal chief of the father’s house for the Simeonites. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was struck dead was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, who was a tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.
16 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ⎣“Speak to the Israelites, saying,⎦[c] 17 ‘Treat the Midianites as enemies and strike them dead. 18 For they treated you as enemies when they deceived you with their treachery in the incident involving Peor and Cozbi, the daughter of the Midianite tribal chief, their sister, who was struck dead on the day of the plague in the Peor incident.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 25:1 Shittim means Acacia Trees.
- Numbers 25:3 Literally yoked themselves to
- Numbers 25:16 The words marked by half-brackets, Speak to the Israelites, saying, are not in the Hebrew text but are present in the Greek Old Testament. These words may have been accidentally omitted from the Hebrew text as the scribe’s eye skipped from one occurrence of saying to another.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.