¹And Israel stayed in Shittim, but the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, ²and these women called the people to the sacrifices to their gods, and the people ate them, and they worshipped their gods. ³Then Israel adhered to Baal-Peor, and the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel. ⁴And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them up before the Lord in the sun, so that the fury of the Lord's anger may recede from Israel.” ⁵Then Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Let each one execute the men under his jurisdiction who adhered to Baal-Peor.” ⁶And there was a man of the sons of Israel who came and brought a Midianite woman to his brothers, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, who were weeping at the entrance to the tent of contact. ⁷And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation, taking a spear in his hand, ⁸and he went after the man of Israel into the vaulted tent and thrust both of them through – the man of Israel, and the woman, in her belly – and the plague on the sons of Israel ceased. ⁹Now those who died in the plague came to twenty-four thousand. ¹⁰Then the Lord spoke to Moses and said, ¹¹“Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, turned my fury back from the sons of Israel, when he was zealous with my zeal in their midst, so that I did not make an end of the sons of Israel in my zeal. ¹²Therefore say, ‘Behold, I am giving him my covenant of peace. ¹³And he and his seed after him will have the covenant of an age-abiding priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and he made atonement for the sons of Israel.’ ” ¹⁴And the name of the man of Israel who was struck down – who was struck down with the Midianite woman – was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of the Simeonite paternal house. ¹⁵And the name of the Midianite woman who was struck down was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was head of the nations of his paternal house in Midian. ¹⁶Then the Lord spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁷“Be hostile to the Midianites and strike them down, ¹⁸for they are hostile to you, in their deceit with which they were deceitful to you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was struck down on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.”