Numbers

Baal Peor

Israel settled at Shittim, and the men began to enjoy themselves with the Moabite women and to have sex with them.

These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. There, the people ate and bowed down before their gods.

The Israelites prostituted themselves to the god of Peor, so the Lord’s anger flared against them.

He said to Moses:

“Take all the leaders of these people and hang them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that his fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

So Moses told the Israelite judges:

“Each of you shall slay any of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor.”

Then a man, an Israelite, came back bringing a Midianite woman to his family in the view of Moses and the Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

When Phinehas, a son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand,

and followed the Israelites into the tent. There, he drove the spear through both the man and the woman. So the plague against the Israelites was checked;

but those who had already died numbered 24,000.

The Lord spoke to Moses:

“Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned away my anger’s blows from the sons of Israel because he was zealous for me; he has defended my honor among you. Because of this, I did not feel zealous for my honor, and I would have destroyed the people of Israel.

Therefore, tell him that I am making a Covenant of friendship with him.

I grant to him and his descendants that they will be my priests forever because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.”

The Israelite slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of a Simeonite family.

And the name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

The Lord said to Moses:

“Attack the Midianites and crush them,

for they have been your enemies, deceiving you regarding Peor and regarding Cozbi, their kinswoman, daughter of a Midianite leader, who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”

After the plague, it happened that…