Baal Worship at Peor
1While Israel lived in eShittim, fthe people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2gThese invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4And the Lord said to Moses, h“Take all the chiefs of the people and ihang1 them in the sun before the Lord, jthat the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5And Moses said to kthe judges of Israel, l“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were mweeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7nWhen Phinehas othe son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9Nevertheless, pthose who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
The Zeal of Phinehas
10And the Lord said to Moses, 11“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he qwas jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in rmy jealousy. 12Therefore say, s‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13and it shall be to him and to this descendants after him the covenant of ua perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”
14The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. 15And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of vZur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.
16And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17w“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18for they have harassed you with their xwiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of yPeor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
Footnotes
- 1 25:4 Or impale
The Partial Kingdom: God’s Place
Numbers 1:1 – Joshua 24:33 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 45:22 • ID: 2388Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.