Numbers 25
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
25 Israel settled down and remained in Shittim, and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab,
2 Who invited the [Israelites] to the sacrifices of their gods, and [they] ate and bowed down to Moab’s gods.
3 So Israel joined himself to [the god] Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
4 And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the leaders or chiefs of the people, and hang them before the Lord in the sun [after killing them], that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.
5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each one of you slay his men who joined themselves to Baal of Peor.
6 And behold, one of the Israelites came and brought to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and of all the congregation of Israel while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting [over the divine judgment and the punishment].
7 And when Phinehas 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 went after the man of Israel into the inner room and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her body. Then the [smiting] plague was stayed from the Israelites.
9 Nevertheless those who died in the [smiting] plague were 24,000.
10 And the Lord said to Moses,
11 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My jealousy.
12 Therefore say, Behold, I give to Phinehas the priest My covenant of peace.
13 And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.(A)
14 Now the man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a head of a father’s house among the Simeonites.
15 And the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi daughter of Zur; he was head of a father’s house in Midian.
16 And the Lord said to Moses,
17 Provoke hostilities with the Midianites and attack them,
18 For they harass you with their wiles with which they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.
Numbers 25
EasyEnglish Bible
The Israelites worship false gods
25 The Israelites were staying in Shittim. The men began to have sex with the women from Moab. 2 The women from Moab took Israelite men to watch them as they offered sacrifices to the gods of Moab. The Israelite men joined with the Moabite women to eat at their feasts. They also worshipped the gods of Moab. 3 The Israelites joined the Moabite women to worship their god, Baal of Peor. So the Lord became very angry with them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take hold of all the leaders of these people. Hang them up during the day so that they die and people see them. Do what I tell you, so that I will no longer be angry against the Israelites.’
5 Moses told the officers of the Israelites, ‘Each of you, kill the men who have worshipped the god, Baal of Peor.’
6 Moses and all the people were at the door of the Tent of Meeting. They were weeping. While they were there, an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman into his tent. Moses and all the people could see them. 7 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw what happened. So he stood up among all the people and he took a spear in his hand. 8 He went into the man's tent. He pushed the spear through the body of the man and the Midianite woman. When he did that, the bad disease that was killing the Israelites stopped. 9 But 24,000 people had already died as a result of the disease.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 ‘I am no longer angry with the Israelites. That is because of what Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, did. He did not want the people to worship any god except me. Because of him, I did not kill all the Israelites. 12 So you must tell him that I have promised that my peace will be with him. 13 That promise will be for him and for his descendants after him. They will always be priests. That is because he did not want the people to worship any god except me. He has removed the sin of the Israelites so that I could forgive them.’
14 The name of the man that Phinehas killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri. He was the son of Salu. Salu was the leader of a clan from the tribe of Simeon. 15 The name of the Midianite woman was Cozbi. She was the daughter of Zur. Zur was a leader of a Midianite clan.
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 ‘Attack the Midianites and destroy them. 18 They have deceived you and they have become your enemies. They took some of you to worship their god Peor. They used Cozbi to make you do a wrong thing, and she was the daughter of a Midianite leader. Phinehas killed her on the day when the bad disease killed many Israelites at Peor mountain.’
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