¹Israel stayed in Shittim ; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab ;

²for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods.

³Israel joined himself to Baal Peor , and the LORD ’s anger burnt against Israel .

⁴The LORD said to Moses , “Take all the chiefs of the people , and hang them up to the LORD before the sun , that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel .”

⁵Moses said to the judges of Israel , “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor .”

⁶Behold , one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses , and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel , while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting .

⁷When Phinehas , the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest , saw it , he rose up from the middle of the congregation , and took a spear in his hand .

⁸He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through , the man of Israel , and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped amongst the children of Israel .

⁹Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

¹⁰The LORD spoke to Moses , saying ,

¹¹“Phinehas , the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest , has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel , in that he was jealous with my jealousy amongst them , so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy .

¹²Therefore say, ‘Behold , I give to him my covenant of peace .

¹³It shall be to him , and to his offspring after him , the covenant of an everlasting priesthood , because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel .’”

¹⁴Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain , who was slain with the Midianite woman , was Zimri , the son of Salu , a prince of a fathers’ house amongst the Simeonites .

¹⁵The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi , the daughter of Zur . He was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian .

¹⁶The LORD spoke to Moses , saying ,

¹⁷“Harass the Midianites , and strike them ;

¹⁸for they harassed you with their wiles , wherein they have deceived you in the matter of Peor , and in the incident regarding Cozbi , the daughter of the prince of Midian , their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor .”