Old Testament · Law

Numbers chapter 25

While was camped at , the men started Moabite women.These women invited the men to the for their gods. The men ate with them and to their gods.So Israel to the , and Yahweh’s against Israel.Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and before Yahweh, so that Yahweh’s will turn away from Israel.”So Moses told Israel’s , “Each of you must kill the men under your authority who joined themselves to the Baal of Peor.”Right then, while the whole Israelite community was weeping at the entrance of the , an Israelite man brought a right in front of Moses and the entire community — in plain sight of everyone.When son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the middle of the community and grabbed a .He followed the Israelite man into the and drove the spear through both of them — through the Israelite man and into the woman’s . And the that had been hitting Israel stopped.But those who had already died from the plague numbered .Yahweh said to Moses,“Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Because he burned with the same that I have for them, I didn’t wipe out the Israelites in my .”“So announce this: I am giving him my .”“It will be a covenant of for him and his descendants after him, because he was fiercely loyal to his God and for the Israelites.”The name of the Israelite man who was killed — the one killed with the Midianite woman — was Zimri son of Salu, a .And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was daughter of Zur. Zur was the — one of the leading families in Midian.Yahweh said to Moses,“Treat the Midianites as enemies and ,”“because they treated you as enemies when they through and through Cozbi — the daughter of a Midianite leader — the woman who was killed on the day of the plague that came because of Peor.”