1 Mens Israel bodde i Sittim, begynte folket å svikte Herren ved å drive utukt med Moabs døtre.

Now when Israel was living in Shittim the people became false to the Lord, doing evil with the daughters of Moab:

2 De inviterte folket til ofringer som ble gjort til deres guder; og folket deltok i deres festmåltider og ga ære til deres guder.

For they sent for the people to be present at the offerings made to their gods; and the people took part in their feasts and gave honour to their gods.

3 Så begynte Israel å ha omgang med kvinnene fra Moab til ære for Baal-Peor, og Herrens vrede flammet opp mot Israel.

So Israel had relations with the women of Moab in honour of the Baal of Peor: and the Lord was moved to wrath against Israel.

4 Da sa Herren til Moses: Ta de ledende mennene i folket og heng dem opp i solen for Herren, så Herrens vrede kan vendes bort fra Israel.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, hanging them up in the sun before the Lord, so that the wrath of the Lord may be turned from Israel.

5 Moses sa da til dommerne i Israel: Enhver av dere skal drepe de av sine menn som har hatt omgang med moabittiske kvinner til ære for Baal-Peor.

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Let everyone put to death those of his men who have had relations with the women of Moab in honour of the Baal of Peor.

6 En av Israels barn kom til sine brødre med en midjanittisk kvinne, midt foran Moses og hele forsamlingen, mens de gråt ved inngangen til møteteltet.

Then one of the children of Israel came to his brothers, taking with him a woman of Midian, before the eyes of Moses and all the meeting of the people, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of meeting.

7 Da Phinehas, sønn av Eleasar, Arons sønn, så dette, reiste han seg fra menigheten og tok et spyd i hånden.

And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, seeing it, got up from among the people and took a spear in his hand,

8 Han fulgte etter israelitten inn i teltet og stakk spydet gjennom dem begge, både mannen og kvinnen. Da stanset pesten blant Israels barn.

And went after the man of Israel into the tent, driving the spear through the two of them, through the man of Israel and through the stomach of the woman. So the disease was stopped among the children of Israel.

9 Men pesten hadde ført til at tjuefire tusen mistet livet.

But twenty-four thousand of them had come to their death by the disease.

10 Og Herren talte til Moses:

And the Lord said to Moses,

11 Phinehas har i sin nidkjærhet for min ære vendt min vrede bort fra Israels barn, så jeg ikke utslettet dem i min harme.

Through Phinehas, and because of his passion for my honour, my wrath has been turned away from the children of Israel, so that I have not sent destruction on them all in my wrath.

12 Derfor skal du si at jeg inngår en fredsavtale med ham:

So say to them that I will make with him an agreement of peace:

13 Og ved denne avtalen skal han og hans etterkommere ha retten til å være prester for alltid; fordi han ila seg æren for sin Gud og tok bort Israels barns synd.

And by this agreement, he and his sons after him have the right to be priests for ever; because, by his care for the honour of his God, he took away the sin of the children of Israel.

14 Israelitten som ble drept samtidig med den midjanittiske kvinnen, var Simri, Salus sønn, en leder for en av Simeon-stammens familier.

Now the man of Israel who was put to death with the woman of Midian was Zimri, the son of Salu, a chief of one of the families of the Simeonites.

15 Den midjanittiske kvinnen som ble drept, var Kosbi, datter av Sur, som var overhode for en slekt i Midjan.

And the woman of Midian who was put to death was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was the head of a family in Midian.

16 Og Herren sa til Moses:

Then the Lord said to Moses,

17 Gå til krig mot midjanittene og slå dem,

Take up arms against the Midianites and overcome them;

18 For de er en fare for dere med sine falske veier, og førte dere inn i synd i Peor-saken, og på grunn av Kosbi, deres søster, datteren til lederen i Midjan, som ble drept ved pestens tid som kom over dere på grunn av Peor.

For they are a danger to you with their false ways, causing sin to come on you in the question of Peor, and because of Cozbi, their sister, the daughter of the chief of Midian, who was put to death at the time of the disease which came on you because of Peor.