Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying,“ Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a woman, a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there.
While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove, the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab.The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods.So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Peor, and the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.The Lord said to Moses,“ Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord so that His burning anger may turn away from Israel.”So Moses told Israel’s judges,“ Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor.”An Israelite man came bringing a Midianite woman to his relatives in the sight of Moses and the whole Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,followed the Israelite man into the tent, and drove it through both the Israelite man and the woman— through her belly. Then the plague on the Israelites was stopped,but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
