Baal Worship at Peor

(Numbers 16:41-50; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

1And Israel dwelleth in Shittim, and the people begin to go a-whoring unto daughters of Moab, 2and they call for the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people eat, and bow themselves to their gods, 3and Israel is joined to Baal-Peor, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel. 4And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them before Jehovah — over-against the sun; and the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah doth turn back from Israel.’ 5And Moses saith unto the judges of Israel, ‘Slay ye each his men who are joined to Baal-Peor.’

Phinehas Kills Zimri and Cozbi

6And lo, a man of the sons of Israel hath come, and bringeth in unto his brethren the Midianitess, before the eyes of Moses, and before the eyes of all the company of the sons of Israel, who are weeping at the opening of the tent of meeting; 7and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, seeth, and riseth from the midst of the company, and taketh a javelin in his hand, 8and goeth in after the man of Israel unto the hollow place, and pierceth them both, the man of Israel and the woman — unto her belly, and the plague is restrained from the sons of Israel; 9and the dead by the plague are four and twenty thousand.

Phinehas' Reward

10And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 11‘Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, hath turned back My fury from the sons of Israel, by his being zealous with My zeal in their midst, and I have not consumed the sons of Israel in My zeal. 12‘Therefore say, Lo, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, 13and it hath been to him and to his seed after him a covenant of a priesthood age-during, because that he hath been zealous for his God, and doth make atonement for the sons of Israel.’

14And the name of the man of Israel who is smitten, who hath been smitten with the Midianitess, [is] Zimri son of Salu, prince of the house of a father of the Simeonite; 15and the name of the woman who is smitten, the Midianitess, [is] Cozbi daughter of Zur, head of a people — of the house of a father in Midian [is] he.

A Warning against the Midianites

16And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 17‘Distress the Midianites, and ye have smitten them, 18for they are adversaries to you with their frauds, [with] which they have acted fraudulently to you, concerning the matter of Peor, and concerning the matter of Cozbi, daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who is smitten in the day of the plague for the matter of Peor.’