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. ^2 (C)They invited the people to ^(D)the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and ^(E)bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and ^(F)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.

⁴ 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.”

⁵ So Moses said to ^(I)the judges of Israel, ^(J)“Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”

⁶ 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. ⁷ 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; ⁸ 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. ⁹ And ^(P)those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.