Numbers 25:1

Numbers 25 records a devastating episode of Israelite apostasy and immorality at Peor, where the men engaged in sexual sin with Moabite women and worshipped their gods, particularly Baal of Peor. This provoked God's fierce anger, resulting in a plague that killed 24,000 people. The chapter highlights Phinehas's zealous act of intervention, which brought the plague to an end and secured a covenant of lasting priesthood for his lineage, demonstrating the severe consequences of unfaithfulness and the importance of righteous indignation.