1 And Israel remained in Shittim, and the people began to prostitute themselves with the daughters of Moab. VP
2 And they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate, and they bowed down to their gods. VP
3 And Israel joined himself to Baal of Peor, and the nose of YHWH burned against Israel. VP
4 And YHWH said to Moses, “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them before YHWH before the sun, and the burning nose of YHWH will turn back from Israel.” VP
5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each man must kill his men who joined themselves to Baal of Peor.” VP
6 And behold, a man from the sons of Israel came, and he brought near to his brothers a Midianitess, before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they [were] weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting. VP
7 And Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw, and he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and he took a spear in his hand, VP
8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent chamber, and thrust through the two of them, the man of Israel and the woman—through her belly. And the plague was restrained from upon the sons of Israel. VP
9 And the ones dead in the plague were four and twenty thousand. VP
10 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, VP
11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the sons of Israel, in his being zealous with My zeal in their midst, and I did not consume the sons of Israel in My zeal. VP
12 Therefore say, behold, I am giving to him My covenant of peace. VP
13 And it shall be to him and to his seed after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because that he was zealous for his God, and he made atonement upon the sons of Israel.” VP
14 And the name of the man of Israel, the one struck, who was struck with the Midianitess, [was] Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a house of a father of the Simeonite. VP
15 And the name of the woman, the one stuck, the Midianitess, [was] Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he [was] head of a tribe of a house of a father in Midian. VP
16 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, VP
17 “Harass the Midianites, and you shall strike them, VP
18 for they are harassing you⁺ with their schemes by which they deceived you⁺ concerning the matter of Peor and concerning the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, the one struck in the day of the plague concerning the matter of Peor.” VP