Numbers 25
Good News Translation
The People of Israel at Peor
25 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. 2 These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god 3 Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them 4 and said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight,[a] and then I will no longer be angry with the people.” 5 Moses said to the officials, “Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor.”
6 One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear, 8 followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped, 9 but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel. He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me, and that is why I did not destroy them in my anger. 12 So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come. 13 He and his descendants are permanently established as priests, because he did not tolerate any rivals to me and brought about forgiveness for the people's sin.”
14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the head of a family in the tribe of Simeon. 15 The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans.
16 The Lord commanded Moses, 17 “Attack the Midianites and destroy them, 18 because of the evil they did to you when they deceived you at Peor, and because of Cozbi, who was killed at the time of the epidemic at Peor.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 25:4 in broad daylight; or publicly.
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”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software