24  Then they udespised vthe pleasant land,

having wno faith in his promise.

25  They xmurmured in their tents,

and did not obey the voice of the Lord.

26  Therefore he yraised his hand and swore to them

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27  and would make their offspring fall among the nations,

zscattering them among the lands.

28  Then they ayoked themselves to the aBaal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to bthe dead;

29  they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

30  Then cPhinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was stayed.

31  And that was dcounted to him as righteousness

from generation to generation forever.

32  They eangered him at the waters of Meribah,

and it went ill with Moses on their account,

33  for they fmade his spirit bitter,3

and he gspoke rashly with his lips.

34  They did not hdestroy the peoples,

ias the Lord commanded them,

35  but they jmixed with the nations

and learned to do as they did.