¹Israel dwelled in Shittim, and the people began to prostitute themselves with the daughters of Moab.

²They called the people to the sacrifices of their God, and the people ate, and bowed down to their God.

³Israel yoked itself to Baal-peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel.

⁴Yahweh said to Moses, Take all the heads of the people and impale them for Yahweh before the sun, so that the burning anger of Yahweh may turn back from Israel.

⁵Moses said to the judges of Israel, Kill, each man, his men who yoked themselves to Baal-peor.

⁶And look, a man from the children of Israel came, and brought near to his brothers the Midianite woman, to the eye of Moses and to the eye of all the congregation of the children of Israel; and they wept at the door of the tent of the meeting.

⁷Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest saw it, and rose from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.

⁸He went in after the man of Israel into the tent, and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through her belly; and the plague was held back from over the children of Israel.

⁹Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

¹⁰Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

¹¹Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest has turned back my anger from over the children of Israel, because he was jealous with my jealousy in the middle of them, so that I did not finish off the children of Israel in my jealousy.

¹²Therefore say: Look, I am giving him my covenant of wholeness;

¹³And it will belong to him and to his seed after him, a covenant of priesthood forever, because he was jealous for his God and covered over the children of Israel.

¹⁴And the name of the man of Israel, the one struck down, who was struck down with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, prince of a father's house among the Simeonites.

¹⁵And the name of the woman who was struck down, the Midianite, was Cozbi daughter of Zur; he was head of the tribes of a father's house in Midian.

¹⁶Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

¹⁷Harass the Midianites, and you will strike them;

¹⁸For they are pressing hard upon you with their wiles, with which they have dealt craftily against you over the word of Peor, and over the word of Cozbi, daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was struck down on the day of the plague over the word of Peor.