Numbers 25
Open in the reader1While Strives-with-God was staying in Acacia-Grove, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of From-the-Father,
2who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.
3So Strives-with-God joined in worshiping Baal of Baal-of-Peor, and the anger of He-Who-Is burned against them.
4Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before He-Who-Is, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Strives-with-God.”
5So Drawn-Out told the judges of Strives-with-God, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal-of-Peor of Peor.”
6Just then an child of Strives-with-God man brought to his family a Strife-people woman in the sight of Drawn-Out and the whole congregation of Strives-with-God while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
7On seeing this, Phinehas son of My-God-Is-Help, the son of Aaron the priest, got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,
8followed the child of Strives-with-God into his tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the child of Strives-with-God and on through the belly of the woman. So the plague against the children of Strives-with-God was halted,
9but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
10Then He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out,
11“Phinehas son of My-God-Is-Help, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the children of Strives-with-God; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the children of Strives-with-God in My zeal.
12Declare, therefore, that I am granting him My covenant of peace.
13It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Strives-with-God.”
14The name of the child of Strives-with-God who was slain with the Strife-people woman was My-Song son of Sallai, the leader of a Hearing-One family.
15And the name of the slain Strife-people woman was Deceitful, the daughter of Rock, a tribal chief of a child of Strife family.
16And He-Who-Is said to Drawn-Out,
17“Attack the Strife-peoples and strike them dead.
18For they assailed you deceitfully when they seduced you in the matter of The-Opening and their sister Deceitful, the daughter of the child of Strife leader, the woman who was killed on the day the plague came because of The-Opening.”
19After the plague had ended,