1 When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. 2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal Peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal Peor.”
6 Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand, 8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. 9 Those that died in the plague were 24,000.
10 The Lord spoke to Moses: 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. 12 Therefore, announce: ‘I am going to give to him my covenant of peace. 13 So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites.’”
14 Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed—the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman—was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian.
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 17 “Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them, 18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”
1 God springs into action.
His enemies scatter;
his adversaries run from him.
2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away.
As wax melts before fire,
so the wicked are destroyed before God.
3 But the godly are happy;
they rejoice before God
and are overcome with joy.
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name.
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds.
For the Lord is his name.
Rejoice before him.
5 He is a father to the fatherless
and an advocate for widows.
God rules from his holy dwelling place.
6 God settles in their own homes those who have been deserted;
he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity.
But sinful rebels live in the desert.
7 O God, when you lead your people into battle,
when you march through the wastelands, (Selah)
8 the earth shakes.
Yes, the heavens pour down rain
before God, the God of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 O God, you cause abundant showers to fall on your chosen people.
When they are tired, you sustain them,
10 for you live among them.
You sustain the oppressed with your good blessings, O God.
11 The Lord speaks;
many, many women spread the good news.
12 Kings leading armies run away—they run away!
The lovely lady of the house divides up the loot.
13 When you lie down among the sheepfolds,
the wings of the dove are covered with silver
and with glittering gold.
14 When the Sovereign One scatters kings,
let it snow on Zalmon.
15 The mountain of Bashan is a towering mountain;
the mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks.
16 Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks,
at the mountain where God has decided to live?
Indeed the Lord will live there permanently.
17 God has countless chariots;
they number in the thousands.
The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor.
18 You ascend on high;
you have taken many captives.
You receive tribute from men,
including even sinful rebels.
Indeed, the Lord God lives there.
19 The Lord deserves praise.
Day after day he carries our burden,
the God who delivers us. (Selah)
20 Our God is a God who delivers;
the Lord, the Sovereign Lord, can rescue from death.
21 Indeed, God strikes the heads of his enemies,
the hairy foreheads of those who persist in rebellion.
22 The Lord says,
“I will retrieve them from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 so that your feet may stomp in their blood,
and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies’ corpses.”
24 They see your processions, O God—
the processions of my God, my king, who marches along in holy splendor.
25 Singers walk in front;
musicians follow playing their stringed instruments,
in the midst of young women playing tambourines.
26 In your large assemblies praise God,
the Lord, in the assemblies of Israel.
27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler,
and the princes of Judah in their robes,
along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 God has decreed that you will be powerful.
O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power.
29 Because of your temple in Jerusalem,
kings bring tribute to you.
30 Sound your battle cry against the wild beast of the reeds,
and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls.
They humble themselves and offer gold and silver as tribute.
God scatters the nations that like to do battle.
31 They come with red cloth from Egypt.
Ethiopia voluntarily offers tribute to God.
32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
Sing praises to the Lord, (Selah)
33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times.
Look! He thunders loudly.
34 Acknowledge God’s power,
his sovereignty over Israel,
and the power he reveals in the skies.
35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple.
It is the God of Israel who gives the people power and strength.
God deserves praise!
1 This is an oracle about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
2 They went up to the temple;
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament.
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off.
3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;
on their roofs and in their town squares
all of them wail;
they fall down weeping.
4 The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress;
their courage wavers.
5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight,
and for the fugitives stretched out as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.
For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;
they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.
6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone;
the grass is dried up,
the vegetation has disappeared,
and there are no plants.
7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,
they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.
8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory;
their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim.
9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon are full of blood!
Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon.
A lion will attack the Moabite fugitives
and the people left in the land.
1 In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, 2 when they see your pure and reverent conduct. 3 Let your beauty not be external—the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes— 4 but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. 5 For in the same way the holy women who hoped in God long ago adorned themselves by being subject to their husbands, 6 like Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so. 7 Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers.
8 Finally, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, affectionate, compassionate, and humble. 9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless others because you were called to inherit a blessing. 10 For
the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit.
11 And he must turn away from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil.
13 For who is going to harm you if you are devoted to what is good? 14 But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. But do not be terrified of them or be shaken. 15 But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. 16 Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.
18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins,
the just for the unjust,
to bring you to God,
by being put to death in the flesh
but by being made alive in the spirit.
19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water. 21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you—not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who went into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subject to him.
