Numbers 25
Christian Standard Bible
Israel Worships Baal
25 While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove,[a](A) the people began to prostitute themselves with the women of Moab. 2 The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods.(B) 3 So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Peor,(C) and the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.(D) 4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute[b] them in broad daylight before the Lord so that his burning anger may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses told Israel’s judges, “Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor.”
Phinehas Intervenes
6 An Israelite man came bringing a Midianite woman to his relatives in the sight of Moses and the whole Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand, 8 followed the Israelite man into the tent,[c] and drove it through both the Israelite man and the woman—through her belly. Then the plague on the Israelites was stopped, 9 but those who died in the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.(E)
10 The Lord spoke to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with my zeal,[d](F) so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my zeal. 12 Therefore declare: I grant him my covenant of peace.(G) 13 It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants,(H) because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”
14 The name of the slain Israelite man, who was struck dead with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.[e] 15 The name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal head of a family in Midian.
Vengeance against the Midianites
16 The Lord told Moses, 17 “Attack the Midianites and strike them dead. 18 For they attacked you with the treachery that they used against you in the Peor incident. They did the same in the case involving their sister Cozbi, daughter of the Midianite leader who was killed the day the plague came at Peor.”
Numbers 25
GOD’S WORD Translation
Israel Commits Idolatry
25 While Israel was staying at Shittim, the men began to have sex with Moabite women 2 who invited the people to the sacrifices offered to their gods. The people ate the meat from the sacrifices and worshiped these gods. 3 Since the Israelites joined in worshiping the god Baal of Peor, the Lord became angry with Israel.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people, and execute them in broad daylight in the Lord’s presence. This will turn the Lord’s anger away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill the men who have joined in worshiping the god Baal of Peor.”
6 One of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to his brothers. He did this right in front of Moses and the whole community of Israel while they were crying at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, saw this. So he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand, 8 and went into the tent after the Israelite man. He drove the spear through the man and into the woman’s body. Because of this, the plague that the Israelites were experiencing stopped. 9 However, 24,000 people died from that plague.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, turned my fury away from the Israelites. Since he stood up for me, I didn’t have to stand up for myself and destroy them. 12 So tell Phinehas that I’m making a promise of peace to him. 13 My promise is that he and his descendants will be priests permanently because he stood up for his God and he made peace with the Lord for the Israelites.”
14 The name of the Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri, son of Salu. (Salu was the leader of a family from Simeon.) 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, daughter of Zur. (Zur was the head of a family from the Midianite tribes.)
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Treat the Midianites as your enemies, and kill them 18 because they treated you as enemies. They plotted to trick you in the incident that took place at Peor. They used their sister Cozbi, daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed on the day of the plague caused by the incident at Peor.”
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.