1When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab.

2These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

3When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

God’s Punishment

4The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.”

5So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor.”

6Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

7When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand,

8and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites.

9Those that died in the plague were 24,000.

The Aftermath

10The Lord spoke to Moses:

11“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal.

12Therefore, announce: ‘I am going to give to him my covenant of peace.

13So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites.’”

14Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed – the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman – was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites.

15The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian.

16Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

17“Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them,

18because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”