Scriptures
Numbers 25


Chapter 25

The Israelites who worship false gods are slain—Phinehas slays the adulterers and stays the plague—Israel is commanded to vex the Midianites who beguiled them.

1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit awhoredom with the daughters of Moab.

2 And they acalled the people unto the bsacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

3 And Israel joined himself unto aBaal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the aheads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord bagainst the sun, that the cfierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.

5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, aSlay ye every one his men that were joined unto bBaal-peor.

6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the atabernacle of the congregation.

7 And when aPhinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my ajealousy.

12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my acovenant of peace:

13 And he shall have it, and his aseed after him, even the bcovenant of an everlasting cpriesthood; because he was dzealous for his God, and made an eatonement for the children of Israel.

14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, aa prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.

15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

17 Vex the Midianites, and asmite them:

18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague afor Peor’s sake.