Moab Seduces Israel

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,e the men began to indulge in sexual immoralityf with Moabiteg women,h 2 who invited them to the sacrificesi to their gods.j The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves tok the Baal of Peor.l And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leadersm of these people, kill them and exposen them in broad daylight before the Lord,o so that the Lord’s fierce angerp may turn away from Israel.”

5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to deathq those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”r

6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianites woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weepingt at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehasu son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spearv in his hand 8 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;w 9 but those who died in the plaguex numbered 24,000.y

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.z Since he was as zealous for my honora 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 peaceb with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,c because he was zealousd for the honore of his God and made atonementf for the Israelites.”g

14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite womanh was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.i 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbij daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.k

16 The Lord said to Moses,l 17 “Treat the Midianitesm as enemiesn and kill them.o 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incidentp 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.”