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When they envied Moses in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the Lord,
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The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram.
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A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked.
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They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image.
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Thus they changed their glory Into the image of an ox that eats grass.
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They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,
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Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea.
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Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
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Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word,
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But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
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Therefore He raised up His hand in an oath against them, To overthrow them in the wilderness,
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To overthrow their descendants among the nations, And to scatter them in the lands.
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They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
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Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them.
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Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped.
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And that was accounted to him for righteousness To all generations forevermore.
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They angered Him also at the waters of strife, So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
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Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
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They did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them,
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But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works;
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They served their idols, Which became a snare to them.