Israelites who worship false gods are slain—Phinehas slays adulterers and stays plague—Israel commanded to vex the Midianites who had beguiled them.

 AND Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit ^awhoredom with the daughters of Moab.

 And they ^acalled^• the people unto the ^bsacrifices^• of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

 And Israel joined himself unto ^aBaal^•-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the ^aheads^• of the people, and hang them up before the LORD ^bagainst^• the sun, that the ^cfierce^• anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.

 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, ^aSlay^• ye every one his men that were joined unto ^bBaal^•-peor.

 ¶ And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the ^atabernacle^• of the congregation.

 And when ^aPhinehas^•, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my ^ajealousy^•.

 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my ^acovenant^• of peace:

 And he shall have it, and his ^aseed after him, even the ^bcovenant of an everlasting ^cpriesthood; because he was ^dzealous for his God, and made an ^eatonement^• for the children of Israel.

 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, ^aa^• prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.

 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

 Vex the Midianites, and ^asmite^• them:

 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague ^afor^• Peor’s sake.