Numbers 25

¹ Israel settled at Shittim. The people gave themselves over to prostitution with Moabite women.

² These invited them to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down before theirgods.

³ With Israel thus committed to the Baal of Peor, Yahweh's anger was aroused against them.

⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take al the leaders of the people. Impale them facing the sun, for Yahweh,to deflect his burning anger from Israel.'

⁵ Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you wil put to death those of his people who havecommitted themselves to the Baal of Peor.'

⁶ One of the Israelites came along, bringing the Midianite woman into his family, under the very eyes ofMoses and the whole community of Israelites as they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁷ The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, on seeing this, stood up, left the assembly, seizeda lance,

⁸ fol owed the Israelite into the alcove, and there ran them both through, the Israelite and the woman,through the stomach. Thus the plague which had struck the Israelites was arrested.

⁹ In the plague twenty-four thousand of them had died.

¹⁰ Yahweh then spoke and said,

¹¹ 'The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron has deflected my wrath from the Israelites, hebeing the only one of them to have the same zeal as I have; for which reason, I did not make an end of theIsraelites in my zeal.

¹² For this reason I say: To him I grant my covenant of peace.

¹³ To him and his descendants after him, this covenant will assure the priesthood for ever. In rewardfor his zeal for his God, he will have the right to perform the ritual of expiation for the Israelites.'

¹⁴ The Israelite who had been kil ed (the one who was kil ed with the Midianite woman) was cal edZimri son of Salu, leader of one of the Simeonite families.

¹⁵ The woman, the Midianite who was kil ed, was cal ed Cozbi, daughter of Zur, chief of a clan, of afamily, in Midian.

¹⁶ Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said,

¹⁷ 'Harass the Midianites, strike them down,

¹⁸ for harassing you with their guile in the Peor affair and in the affair of their sister Cozbi, the daughterof a prince of Midian, the woman who was kil ed the day the plague came on account of the business of Peor.'