Numbers 25
The full text of Numbers 25 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women,
2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods.
3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them.
4 The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."
5 So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor."
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand,
8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;
9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
10 The LORD said to Moses,
11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal.
12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him.
13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites."
14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.
15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.
16 The LORD said to Moses,
17 "Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them,
18 because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the matter of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident."
Translation notes (3)
- Numbers 25:3a The phrase 'yoked themselves to' translates the Hebrew vayitsamed, meaning to bind or attach oneself. The image conveyed is of Israel harnessing itself to the local deity, Baal of Peor.
- Numbers 25:4a The phrase 'expose them' translates the Hebrew hoqa', a rare verb referring to public execution or display, such as impaling or hanging up. The exact procedure is uncertain. It is debated whether 'the leaders' are themselves punished or are made to punish the guilty; the Hebrew is translated as it stands, and this note does not decide between these interpretations.
- Numbers 25:11a The phrase "Zealous for my honor" or "my zeal" comes from the Hebrew root *qana*, which means jealousy or zeal. The LORD's praise of Phinehas's zeal is translated accurately; its ethical and theological meaning is not decided here but is reserved for further review.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Numbers, is free to read here on the web.
Continue: Numbers 26 → · All of Numbers · About the TBV · Read Numbers 25 in the KJV
Get the app: iOS · Android · Trinity Plus