26. Therefore, he solemnly sworethat he would kill them in the wilderness,
27. that he would scatter their descendants among the nations,exiling them to distant lands.
28. Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!
29. They angered the lord with all these things,so a plague broke out among them.
30. But Phinehas had the courage to intervene,and the plague was stopped.
31. So he has been regarded as a righteous manever since that time.
32. At Meribah, too, they angered the lord,causing Moses serious trouble.
33. They made Moses angry,and he spoke foolishly.
34. Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land,as the lord had commanded them.
35. Instead, they mingled among the pagansand adopted their evil customs.
36. They worshiped their idols,which led to their downfall.
37. They even sacrificed their sonsand their daughters to the demons.
38. They shed innocent blood,the blood of their sons and daughters.By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,they polluted the land with murder.
39. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,and their love of idols was adultery in the lord’s sight.
40. That is why the lord’s anger burned against his people,and he abhorred his own special possession.
41. He handed them over to pagan nations,and they were ruled by those who hated them.
42. Their enemies crushed themand brought them under their cruel power.