Sex and a meal honoring Baal
1While the people of Israel camped at an acacia grove, some of their men had sex with women from Moab. 2The women invited them out to eat. The main course came from sacrifices offered to Moab’s gods. [2] The men took part in the sacrifices, and bowed to Moab’s gods. [2] 3As a result, Israel linked up with Baal of Peor. [3] The LORD got angry with Israel. 4The LORD told Moses, “Round up all of the leaders [4] and execute them in front of everyone. Do it to keep the LORD from unleashing his anger on everyone in Israel.” 5Moses told his top leaders, “You need to execute all the men who have gotten involved with Baal of Peor.”Bad timing for sex
6People started crying as they stood near the Meeting Tent. Just then, an Israelite man boldly walked right through the group, escorting a Midianite woman toward his family’s tent. Moses and everyone else saw him.7Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, who was Eleazar’s son, picked up a spear. 8He followed the man and woman into the back room of the tent and speared them both at once, through the gut—a twofer. That stopped a plague that had already started killing people. 9But 24,000 had already died.
Phinehas gets promoted
10The LORD told Moses, 11“Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, has saved Israel. I was angry. But his passionate devotion to me kept me from killing all the Israelites. 12So tell Phinehas this, ‘I’m making a peace treaty with him, an agreement to be friends. 13As part of this agreement, I’m making him and his descendants a family of priests. This is permanent. I’m doing this because of his devotion to me. His act is what atoned for Israel’s sins and got the nation back on track with me.’”14The dead man was Zimri, from Simeon’s tribe. He was the son of Salu, a leader in the tribe. 15The dead Midianite woman was Cozbi. Her father was Zur, head of his extended family in Midian.
16The LORD told Moses, 17“Attack the people of Midian. 18They’ve already attacked you by tricking your people. They lured your men into worshiping at Peor and in doing what was going on with Cozbi. She was the Midianite woman killed during the plague that started because of what happened at Peor.
