Moab Seduces Israel

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,^(A) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality^(B) with Moabite^(C) women,^{(D) 2} who invited them to the sacrifices^(E) to their gods.^(F) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel yoked themselves to^(G) the Baal of Peor.^(H) And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders^(I) of these people, kill them and expose^(J) them in broad daylight before the Lord,^(K) so that the Lord’s fierce anger^(L) may turn away from Israel.”

⁵ So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death^(M) those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”^(N)

⁶ Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite^(O) woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping^(P) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas^(Q) son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear^(R) 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 stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;^{(S) 9} but those who died in the plague^(T) numbered 24,000.^(U)

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.^{(A) 16} When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented^(B) concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord^(C) was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd,^[a] have done wrong. These are but sheep.^(D) What have they done?^(E) Let your hand fall on me and my family.”^(F)

David Builds an Altar^(G)

¹⁸ On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah^(H) the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. ²⁰ When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”^(I)

²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen^(J) for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. ²³ Your Majesty, Araunah^[b] gives^(K) all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴ But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”^(L)

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels^[c](M) of silver for them. ²⁵ David built an altar^(N) to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer^(O) in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.