While Israel stayed at Shittim, the people were not faithful to the Lord and began to have sex with the daughters of Moab.

They asked the people of Israel to bring gifts to their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with Israel.

The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people, kill them, and put their bodies in the bright daylight before the Lord. Then the strong anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel."

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor."

Then one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family. Moses and all the people of Israel saw this while they were crying at the door of the meeting tent.

When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the religious leader, saw it, he rose up from among the people. He took a spear in his hand

and went after the man of Israel into the tent. Then he cut through the bodies of both the man of Israel and the woman. So the very bad disease that spread on the people of Israel was stopped.

Those who died because of this bad disease were 24,000.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

"Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the religious leader, has turned My anger away from the people of Israel. He was jealous with My jealousy among them, so I did not destroy the people of Israel in My jealousy.

So say to them that I make My agreement of peace with Phinehas.

It will be an agreement for him and his children after him that they will always be religious leaders, because he was jealous for his God, and did what he was to do to pay for the sin of the people of Israel."

The name of the man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri the son of Salu. He was a leader of a father's house among the Simeonites.

The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur. Zur was the head of the people of a father's house in Midian.

The Lord said to Moses,

"Be angry at the Midianites and fight against them.

For they have brought trouble to you with their false ways. They have fooled you and turned you to the wrong way. They have brought you trouble at Peor with Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister. She was killed on the day the very bad disease came because of Peor."