Numbers 25

Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women

25:1¹ When² Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality³ with the daughters of Moab. 25:2 These women invited⁴ the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods.⁵ 25:3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor,⁶ the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

God’s Punishment

25:4 The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders⁷ of the people, and hang them up⁸ before the Lord in broad daylight,⁹ so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.” 25:5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men¹⁰ who were joined to Baal-peor.”

25:6 Just then¹¹ one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers¹² a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of¹³ the whole community of the Israelites, while they¹⁴ were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it,¹⁵ he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand, 25:8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent¹⁶ and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen.¹⁷ So the plague was stopped from the Israelites.¹⁸ 25:9 Those that died in the plague were 24,000.

The Aftermath

25:10 The Lord spoke to Moses: 25:11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal¹⁹ for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal.²⁰ 25:12 Therefore, announce:²¹ ‘I am going to give²² to him my covenant of peace.²³ 25:13 So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God,²⁴ and has made atonement²⁵ for the Israelites.’”

25:14 Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed – the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman – was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a clan²⁶ of the Simeonites. 25:15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader²⁷ over the people of a clan of Midian.²⁸

25:16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 25:17 “Bring trouble²⁹ to the Midianites, and destroy them, 25:18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived³⁰ you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian,³¹ their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”

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