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¶ And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

Command the sons of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper and every one that has an issue and anyone who is defiled by the dead.

Both male and female shall ye put out; ye shall put them outside the camp; that they not defile the camp of those among whom I dwell.

And the sons of Israel did so and put them outside the camp; as the LORD spoke unto Moses, so did the sons of Israel.

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the sons of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person is guilty,

then they shall confess their sin which they have done, and he shall recompense his guilt with the principal thereof and add unto it the fifth part thereof and give it unto him against whom he is guilty.

But if that man has no redeemer to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest, beside the ram of the reconciliations, whereby reconciliation shall be made for him.

And every offering of all the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.

10 And every man’s sanctified things shall be his; likewise whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.

11 ¶ And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

12 Speak unto the sons of Israel and say unto them, If any man’s wife goes astray and betrays him,

13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hid from the eyes of her husband because she contaminated herself in secret, and there is no witness against her, neither was she taken in the act;

14 if a spirit of jealousy should come upon him, and he becomes jealous of his wife, and she is defiled; or if a spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he becomes jealous of his wife, and she is not defiled,

15 then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is a present of jealousy, a present of remembrance, which brings iniquity to memory.

16 And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the LORD.

17 Then the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take and put it into the water.

18 And the priest shall cause the woman to stand before the LORD and shall uncover the woman’s head and put the present of remembrance in her hands, which is the present of jealousy; and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings the curse.

19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath and say unto the woman, If no man has lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone astray from thy husband to uncleanness, thou shalt be clean from this bitter water that brings the curse.

20 But if thou hast gone astray from thy husband and hast defiled thyself and some man has placed seed in thee other than thine husband,

21 (the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing) and the priest shall say unto the woman, Let the LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people when the LORD makes thy thigh to fail and thy belly to swell,

22 and this water that causes the curse shall go into thy bowels and cause thy belly to swell and thy thigh to fail. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water;

24 and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her as bitter.

25 Then the priest shall take the present of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall wave the offering before the LORD and offer it before the altar.

26 And the priest shall take a handful of the present, in memory of her, and incense it upon the altar and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.

27 He shall give her, therefore, the water to drink, and it shall come to pass, that if she is defiled and has betrayed her husband, that the water that works the curse shall enter into her in bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fail; and that woman shall be a curse among her people.

28 But if the woman is not defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free and shall conceive seed.

29 This is the law of jealousies when a woman goes astray, being under the power of her husband, and is defiled;

30 or of the husband upon whom a spirit of jealousy comes, and he is jealous over his wife; he shall then present the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute in her all this law.

31 And that man shall be free from iniquity, and the woman shall bear her iniquity.

The Purity of the Camp

The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease[a](A) or a discharge(B) of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean(C) because of a dead body.(D) Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.(E) The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.

Restitution for Wrongs

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way[b] and so is unfaithful(F) to the Lord is guilty(G) and must confess(H) the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution(I) for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram(J) with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.(K) All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him.(L) 10 Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.(M)’”

The Test for an Unfaithful Wife

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray(N) and is unfaithful to him 13 so that another man has sexual relations with her,(O) and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14 and if feelings of jealousy(P) come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure— 15 then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah[c](Q) of barley flour(R) on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy,(S) a reminder-offering(T) to draw attention to wrongdoing.

16 “‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair(U) and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy,(V) while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse.(W) 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray(X) and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse(Y) not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray(Z) while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse(AA)—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse[d] among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water(AB) that brings a curse(AC) enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”

“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.(AD)

23 “‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll(AE) and then wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her. 25 The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord(AF) and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial[e] offering(AG) and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. 27 If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.(AH) 28 If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.

29 “‘This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray(AI) and makes herself impure while married to her husband, 30 or when feelings of jealousy(AJ) come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. 31 The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences(AK) of her sin.’”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 5:2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  2. Numbers 5:6 Or woman who commits any wrong common to mankind
  3. Numbers 5:15 That is, probably about 3 1/2 pounds or about 1.6 kilograms
  4. Numbers 5:21 That is, may he cause your name to be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, may others see that you are cursed; similarly in verse 27.
  5. Numbers 5:26 Or representative