Numbers 25:4-9 - God's Punishment

⁴ so the LORD told Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight for the LORD, so the LORD's burning anger may be withdrawn from Israel."

⁵ Then Moses ordered the judges of Israel, "Each one of you is to execute the men in his own tribe who joined the Baal-peor cult."

⁶ That very moment, one of the Israelis arrived, bringing to his brothers one of the Midianite women, right in front of Moses and the entire community of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting! ⁷ When Eleazar's son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up from the middle of the community, grabbed a javelin in his hand, ⁸ followed the Israeli man inside his tent, and impaled the two of them the Israeli man and the woman right through both of them and into her abdomen. Then the plague infecting the Israelis was brought to a halt. Nevertheless, ⁹ 24,000 people died because of the plague.