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25 While Israel was camped at Acacia, some of the young men began going to wild parties with the local Moabite girls. These girls also invited them to attend the sacrifices to their gods, and soon the men were not only attending the feasts, but also bowing down and worshiping the idols. Before long all Israel was joining freely in the worship of Baal, the god of Moab; and the anger of the Lord was hot against his people.

He issued the following command to Moses:

“Execute all the tribal leaders of Israel. Hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that his fierce anger will turn away from the people.”

So Moses ordered the judges to execute all who had worshiped Baal.

But one of the Israeli men insolently brought a Midianite girl into the camp, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as they were weeping at the door of the Tabernacle. When Phinehas (son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest) saw this, he jumped up, grabbed a spear, and rushed after the man into his tent, where he had taken the girl. He thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into her stomach. So the plague was stopped, but only after 24,000 people had already died.

10-11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas (son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest) has turned away my anger for he was angry with my anger, and would not tolerate the worship of any God but me. So I have stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended. 12-13 Now because of what he has done—because of his zeal for his God, and because he has made atonement for the people of Israel by what he did—I promise that he and his descendants shall be priests forever.”

14 The name of the man who was killed with the Midianite girl was Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of the tribe of Simeon. 15 The girl’s name was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a Midianite prince.

16-17 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Destroy the Midianites, 18 for they are destroying you with their wiles. They are causing you to worship Baal, and they are leading you astray, as you have just seen by the death of Cozbi.”

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.”