1And Israel dwells in Shittim, and the people begin to go whoring to daughters of Moab, 2and they call for the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people eat and bow themselves to their gods, 3and Israel is joined to Ba‘al-Peor, and the anger of YHWH burns against Israel. 4And YHWH says to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them before YHWH in sight of the sun; and the fierceness of the anger of YHWH turns back from Israel.” 5And Moses says to [the] judges of Israel, “Each slays his men who are joined to Ba‘al-Peor.”

6And behold, a man of the sons of Israel has come, and brings a Midianitess to his brothers before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, who are weeping at the opening of the Tent of Meeting; 7and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, sees, and rises from the midst of the congregation, and takes a javelin in his hand, 8and goes in after the man of Israel to the hollow place, and pierces them both, the man of Israel and the woman—to her belly, and the plague is restrained from the sons of Israel; 9and the dead by the plague are twenty-four thousand.

10And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying, 11“Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My fury from the sons of Israel by his being zealous with My zeal in their midst, and I have not consumed the sons of Israel in My zeal. 12Therefore say, Behold, I am giving My covenant of peace to him, 13and it has been to him and to his seed after him [for] a covenant of a continuous priesthood, because that he has been zealous for his God, and makes atonement for the sons of Israel.”

14And the name of the man of Israel who is struck, who has been struck with the Midianitess, [is] Zimri son of Salu, prince of the house of a father of the Simeonite; 15and the name of the woman who is struck, the Midianitess, [is] Cozbi daughter of Zur; he [is] head of peoples of a father’s house in Midian.

16And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying, 17“Distress the Midianites, and you have struck them, 18for they are adversaries to you with their frauds, [with] which they have acted fraudulently to you, concerning the matter of Peor and concerning the matter of Cozbi, daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who is struck in the day of the plague for the matter of Peor.”