Numbers 25

⁸We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

¹Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

⁴⁹And there on the plains of Moab they camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.

¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.

⁵My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the Lord.’”

¹Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

²⁰No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.

⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

¹⁵Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

¹⁶And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

²⁸They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

¹⁰I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved.

¹King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.

²These women were from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.

²⁸They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

²⁹So they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

¹⁷Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the Lord.

¹⁰I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved.

²⁰So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed the covenant I laid down for their fathers and has not heeded My voice,

¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

¹¹Who knows the power of Your anger? Your wrath matches the fear You are due.

¹⁷Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the Lord will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,

³Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.

¹¹“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.

⁶let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” “I will give them to you,” said the king.

²³you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

⁶If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,

⁷the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),

⁴⁰Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.

²¹Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

¹⁵you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.

²⁷He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

²⁸The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.

⁹Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

¹³that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),

¹⁷Let the priests who minister before the Lord weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

⁴So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Since Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time,

¹⁵then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there,

¹⁶then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.

⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.

¹⁰Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments,

³Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.

¹After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

²Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”

²⁵Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

³⁰When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.

³¹Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Lord.”

³⁰But Phinehas stood and intervened, and the plague was restrained.

⁹But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the Lord came upon him. While David was playing the harp,

¹⁰The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear,

¹¹and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

²⁸and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The Lord answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has begun.”

⁴⁷So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people.

²⁹So they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

³⁰But Phinehas stood and intervened, and the plague was restrained.

²⁵And there he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the Lord answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

⁵So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”

²²Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the Lord. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”

¹¹“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.

⁸We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

³Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.

⁴But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive to this day, every one of you.

⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

⁵So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”

⁴⁹But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.

⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been halted.

¹⁶“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the Lord at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the Lord.

³⁷those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the Lord.

¹⁶They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.

²¹They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.

⁵⁸They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.

²²And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done.

²I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

⁸Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger. For all the earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy.

⁴Then you will know that I have sent you this commandment so that My covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord of Hosts.

⁵“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, which I gave to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

¹⁰Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

¹“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts.

²⁹The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”

²⁵I will make with them a covenant of peace and rid the land of wild animals, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.

¹⁷For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

³¹It was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.

⁴Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas was the father of Abishua,

⁵Abishua was the father of Bukki, Bukki was the father of Uzzi,

¹⁸nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

²²As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

¹⁵Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve Me as priests. Their anointing will qualify them for a permanent priesthood throughout their generations.”

¹⁴These were the clans of Simeon, and there were 22,200 men.

⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

⁵So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”

²³those registered to the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.

⁷And now, may the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

⁸Among the slain were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

²¹all the cities of the plateau and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon until Moses killed him and the chiefs of Midian (Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba), the princes of Sihon who lived in the land.

¹⁸For they assailed you deceitfully when they seduced you in the matter of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of the Midianite leader, the woman who was killed on the day the plague came because of Peor.”

¹And the Lord said to Moses,

²“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

⁶Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.

¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.

¹⁰“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

³⁵And the Lord sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron had made.

¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”

¹⁵“Have you spared all the women?” he asked them.

¹⁶“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the Lord at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the Lord.

¹⁸With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.