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. (C)They invited the people to (D)the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and (E)bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and (F)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.

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.”

So Moses said to (I)the judges of Israel, (J)“Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”

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. 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; 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. 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

  1. Numbers 25:1 Heb. Shittim
  2. Numbers 25:13 Lit. covering
  3. Numbers 25:17 be hostile toward
  4. Numbers 25:18 tricks

Moab Seduces Israel

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,(A) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality(B) with Moabite(C) women,(D) who invited them to the sacrifices(E) to their gods.(F) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to(G) the Baal of Peor.(H) And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders(I) of these people, kill them and expose(J) them in broad daylight before the Lord,(K) so that the Lord’s fierce anger(L) may turn away from Israel.”

So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death(M) those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”(N)

Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite(O) woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping(P) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. When Phinehas(Q) son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear(R) in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;(S) but those who died in the plague(T) numbered 24,000.(U)

10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites.(V) Since he was as zealous for my honor(W) among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace(X) with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,(Y) because he was zealous(Z) for the honor(AA) of his God and made atonement(AB) for the Israelites.”(AC)

14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman(AD) was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.(AE) 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi(AF) daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.(AG)

16 The Lord said to Moses,(AH) 17 “Treat the Midianites(AI) as enemies(AJ) and kill them.(AK) 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident(AL) involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”

Baal Worship at Peor

25 While Israel lived in (A)Shittim, (B)the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. (C)These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 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.” 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.”

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. (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 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. 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

  1. Numbers 25:4 Or impale

The Sin of Peor

25 While Israel remained at (A)Shittim, the people began (B)to commit infidelity with the daughters of Moab. For (C)they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So (D)Israel [a]became followers of [b]Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with Israel. 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.” 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.”

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. (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, 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. (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

  1. Numbers 25:3 Lit bound themselves to
  2. Numbers 25:3 Or Baal-peor
  3. Numbers 25:4 Lit display them (dead) with broken limbs
  4. Numbers 25:4 Lit in front of the sun
  5. Numbers 25:5 Lit bound themselves to
  6. Numbers 25:5 Or Baal-peor
  7. Numbers 25:11 Or possibly zealous; i.e., impassioned
  8. Numbers 25:11 Or possibly anger
  9. Numbers 25:11 Or possibly anger
  10. Numbers 25:13 Lit seed
  11. Numbers 25:13 Or possibly zealous; i.e., impassioned
  12. Numbers 25:14 Lit killed
  13. Numbers 25:15 Lit he