Numbers 25

₁While the Israelites lived in the town of Shittim, they started to have sex with the Moabite women. ₂The women also invited the Israelites to come to the sacrifices of their gods, and the Israelites ate with them and bowed down to the gods of the Moabite women. ₃The Lord became angry when the Israelites started to worship the god Baal-Peor ₄and He said to Moses: ‘You must take all the leaders of these sinful people, and you must kill them and hang them in front of the tent of the Lord in the sun, and then I will stop being angry with the people of Israel.’

₅Moses told the judges of Israel: ‘Each one of you must kill his own people who have bowed down before the god Baal-Peor.’

₆One of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to his family. Moses and all the people saw it as they cried at the entrance of the tent of the Lord. ₇Phinehas was the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest. When he saw what the man had done, he got up among the Israelites and he took a spear in his hand. ₈He followed the man to the woman's tent. He pierced the spear through the stomach of the Israelite man and through the woman and killed them. Then the Lord stopped the disease and He did not punish the Israelites any more. ₉There were 24 000 Israelites who had died. ₁₀The Lord said to Moses: ₁₁‘Because Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, killed that man and woman, I am no longer angry with the Israelites. I was angry because they were unfaithful and Phinehas was also angry about it, like I was. Now I don't have to be angry with them and punish them anymore for being unfaithful. ₁₂That is why you must tell Phinehas that I am making a covenant with him, and I will give my peace to him. ₁₃Phinehas became angry because the Israelites were unfaithful and he made atonement for them. Now I make this covenant with him: He and his descendants will always be priests.’

₁₄The name of the Israelite man who had died with the Midianite woman was Zimri. Phinehas killed them. Zimri was a family leader from the Simeon tribe. He was the son of Salu. ₁₅The name of the Midianite woman who died was Kozbi, daughter of Zur. Her father was a leader in Midian. ₁₆The Lord said to Moses: ₁₇‘You must remember that the Midianites are your enemies, and you must kill them. ₁₈They became your enemies when they seduced you to worship Baal-Peor and when Kozbi, the Midianite woman, seduced the man of Israel. Kozbi was the daughter of a Midian leader. Phinehas killed her on the day when a lot of Israelites died because they worshipped Baal-Peor.’