17. So the earth opened up, swallowing Dathan,and covering over Abiram’s crowd.
18. Fire blazed throughout that whole group;flames burned up the wicked.
19. They made a calf at Horeb,bowing down to a metal idol.
20. They traded their glorious Godfor an image of a bull that eats grass.
21. They forgot the God who saved them—the one who had done great things in Egypt,
22. wondrous works in the land of Ham,awesome deeds at the Reed Sea.
23. So God determined that he would destroy them—except for the fact that Moses, his chosen one,stood in the way, right in front of him,and turned God’s destructive anger away.
24. But then they rejected the land that was so desirable.They didn’t trust God’s promise.
25. They muttered in their tentsand wouldn’t listen to the Lord’s voice.
26. So God raised his hand against them,making them fall in the desert,
27. scattering their offspring among the nations,casting them across many lands.
28. They joined themselves to Baal-peorand ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29. They made God angry by what they did,so a plague broke out against them.
30. Then Phinehas stood up and prayed,and the plague was contained.
31. That’s why Phinehas is considered righteous,generation after generation, forever.
32. But they angered God at Meribah’s waters,and things went badly for Moses because of them,
33. because they made him bitterso that he spoke rashly with his lips.
34. They didn’t destroy the nationsas the Lord had ordered them to do.
35. Instead, they got mixed up with the nations,learning what they did
36. and serving those false gods,which became a trap for them.