While Israel remained at ^aShittim, the people began ^bto play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 For ^athey invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So ^aIsrael joined themselves to ¹Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them ¹in broad daylight before the LORD, ^aso that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you ^aslay his men who have joined themselves to ¹Baal of Peor.”

6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his ¹relatives a ^aMidianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ^bwhile they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 7 ^aWhen Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the ¹tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the ²body. ^aSo the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. 9 ^aThose who died by the plague were 24,000.

10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “^aPhinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel ^bin My jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘^aBehold, I give him My ^bcovenant of peace; 13 and it shall be for him and his ¹descendants after him, a covenant of a ^aperpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and ^bmade atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

14 Now the name of the ¹slain man of Israel who was ²slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was ¹slain was ^aCozbi the daughter of ^bZur, ²who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “^aBe hostile to the Midianites and strike them; 18 for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”

While Israel remained at ^aShittim, the people began ^bto commit infidelity with the daughters of Moab. 2 For ^athey invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So ^aIsrael ¹became followers of ²Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry with Israel. 4 And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and ¹execute them ²in broad daylight before the LORD, ^aso that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you ^akill his men who have ¹become followers of ²Baal of Peor.”

6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a ^aMidianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ^bwhile they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 ^aWhen Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the inner room of the tent and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through the abdomen. ^aSo the plague on the sons of Israel was brought to a halt. 9 ^aBut those who died from the plague were twenty-four thousand in number.

10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “^aPhinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was ¹jealous with My ²jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel ^bin My ³jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘^aBehold, I am giving him My ^bcovenant of peace; 13 and it shall be for him and for his ¹descendants after him, a covenant of a ^apermanent priesthood, because he was ²jealous for his God and ^bmade atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

14 Now the name of the ¹dead man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was ^aCozbi the daughter of ^bZur, ¹who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “^aBe hostile to the Midianites and attack them; 18 for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was killed on the day of the plague because of Peor.”

Israel settled and remained in ^aShittim, and the people began ^bto play the prostitute with the women of Moab by being unfaithful to God. 2 ^aFor they invited the Israelites to the sacrifices of their gods, and the Israelites ate food offered to idols and bowed down to Moab’s gods. 3 So ^aIsrael joined themselves to Baal of Peor in worship. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people who have committed sin with the Moabites, and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, ^aso that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each one of you must ^akill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor in worship.”

6 Then one of the Israelites came and presented to his relatives a ^aMidianite woman, in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of the Israelites, ^bwhile they were weeping over God’s judgment at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) . 7 ^aWhen Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and pierced both of them through the body, the man of Israel and the woman. ^aThen the plague on the Israelites stopped. 9 Nevertheless, ^athose Israelites who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “^aPhinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites because he was ¹jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the Israelites ^bin My jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘^aBehold, I give to Phinehas My ^bcovenant of peace. 13 And it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of an ^aeverlasting priesthood, because he was jealous (impassioned) for the unique honor and respect owed to his God and ^bmade ¹atonement for the sons of Israel.’” Ps 106:28-31

14 Now the name of the man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was ^aCozbi the daughter of ^bZur, who was the tribal head of a father’s household in Midian.

16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “^aProvoke hostilities with the Midianites and attack them, 18 for they harass you with their tricks, the tricks with which they have deceived you in the matter of the Baal of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague because of the Baal of Peor.”