Numbers 25-26

Contemporary English Version

The Israelites Worship Baal

25 While the Israelites were camped at Acacia, some of the men had sex with Moabite women. ² These women then invited the men to ceremonies where sacrifices were offered to their gods. The men ate the meat from the sacrifices and worshiped the Moabite gods.

³ The Lord was angry with Israel because they had worshiped the god Baal Peor. ⁴ So he said to Moses, “Take the Israelite leaders who are responsible for this and have them killed in front of my sacred tent where everyone can see. Maybe then I will stop being angry with the Israelites.”

⁵ Moses told Israel's officials,^[a] “Each of you must put to death any of your men who worshiped Baal.”

⁶ Later, Moses and the people were at the sacred tent, crying, when one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite^[b] woman to meet his family. ⁷ Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron^[c] the priest, saw the couple and left the crowd. He found a spear ⁸ and followed the man into his tent, where he ran the spear through the man and into the woman's stomach. The Lord immediately stopped punishing Israel with a deadly disease, ⁹ but 24,000 Israelites had already died.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “In my anger, I would have wiped out the Israelites if Phinehas had not been faithful to me. ^12-13 But instead of punishing them, I forgave them. So because of the loyalty that Phinehas showed, I solemnly promise that he and his descendants will always be my priests.”

¹⁴ The Israelite man that was killed was Zimri son of Salu, who was one of the leaders of the Simeon tribe. ¹⁵ And the Midianite woman killed with him was Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite clan leader named Zur.

¹⁶ The Lord told Moses, ^17-18 “The Midianites are now enemies of Israel, so attack and defeat them! They tricked the people of Israel into worshiping their god at Peor, and they are responsible for the death of Cozbi, the daughter of one of their own leaders.”

The Israelites Are Counted a Second Time

26 ^(A) After the Lord had stopped the deadly disease from killing the Israelites, he said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, ² “I want you to find out how many Israelites are in each family. Then make a list of every man 20 years and older who is able to serve in Israel's army.”

³ Israel was now camped in the hills of Moab across the Jordan River from the town of Jericho. Moses and Eleazar told them ⁴ what the Lord had said about counting the men 20 years and older, just as Moses and their ancestors had done when they left Egypt.^[d]

^5-7 There were 43,730 men from the tribe of Reuben, the oldest son of Jacob.^[e] These men were from the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ⁸ Pallu was the father of Eliab ⁹ and the grandfather of Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram who had been chosen by the people, but who followed Korah and rebelled against Moses, Aaron, and the Lord. ¹⁰ That's when the Lord made the earth open up and swallow Dathan, Abiram, and Korah. At the same time, fire destroyed 250 men as a warning to the other Israelites.^{[f] 11} But the Korahite clan wasn't destroyed.

^12-14 There were 22,200 men from the tribe of Simeon; they were from the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, Zerah, and Shaul.

^15-18 There were 40,500 men from the tribe of Gad; they were from the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ozni, Eri, Arod, and Areli.

^19-22 There were 76,500 men from the tribe of Judah; they were from the clans of Shelah, Perez, and Zerah, as well as Hezron and Hamul, whose ancestor was Perez. Judah's sons Er and Onan had died in Canaan.^[g]

^23-25 There were 64,300 men from the tribe of Issachar; they were from the clans of Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.

^26-27 There were 60,500 men from the tribe of Zebulun; they were from the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

^28-34 There were 52,700 men from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph; they were from the clan of Machir, the clan of Gilead his son, and the clans of his six grandsons: Iezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, and Hepher. Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but he had five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.^[h]

^35-37 There were 32,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph; they were from the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, Tahan, and Eran the son of Shuthelah.

^38-41 There were 45,600 men from the tribe of Benjamin; they were from the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shephupham, Hupham, as well as from Ard and Naaman, the two sons of Bela.

^42-43 There were 64,400 men from the tribe of Dan; they were all from the clan of Shuham.

^44-47 There were 53,400 men from the tribe of Asher; they were from the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and from the two clans of Heber and Malchiel, the sons of Beriah. Asher's daughter was Serah.

^48-50 There were 45,400 men from the tribe of Naphtali; they were from the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

⁵¹ The total number of Israelite men listed was 601,730.

^52 (B) The Lord said to Moses, ⁵³ “Divide the land of Canaan among these tribes, according to the number of people in each one, ⁵⁴ so the larger tribes have more land than the smaller ones. ^55-56 I will show you^[i] what land to give each tribe, and they will receive as much land as they need, according to the number of people in it.”

⁵⁷ The tribe of Levi included the clans of the Gershonites, Kohathites, Merarites, ⁵⁸ as well as the clans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath the Levite was the father of Amram, ⁵⁹ the husband of Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. Amram and Jochebed's three children were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. ^60 (C) Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^61 (D) But Nadab and Abihu had died when they offered fire that was unacceptable to the Lord.^[j]

⁶² In the tribe of Levi there were 23,000 men and boys at least a month old. They were not listed with the other tribes, because they would not receive any land in Canaan.

⁶³ Moses and Eleazar counted the Israelites while they were camped in the hills of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. ⁶⁴ None of the people that Moses and Aaron had counted in the Sinai Desert were still alive, ^65 (E) except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. The Lord had said that everyone else would die there in the desert.^[k]