Numbers 5
Christian Standard Bible
Isolation of the Unclean
5 The Lord instructed Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease,(A) anyone who has a discharge,(B) or anyone who is defiled because of a corpse.(C) 3 Send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.” 4 The Israelites did this, sending them outside the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord instructed Moses.
Compensation for Wrongdoing
5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 6 “Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the Lord(D) and is guilty.(E) 7 The person is to confess(F) the sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give it to the individual he has wronged.(G) 8 But if that individual has no relative(H) to receive compensation, the compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the guilty person.(I) 9 Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his.(J) 10 Each one’s holy contribution is his to give; what each one gives to the priest will be his.”
The Jealousy Ritual
11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him, 13 and sleeps with another,[a] but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught in the act; 14 and if a feeling of jealousy(K) comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself— 15 then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quarts[b] of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance to draw attention to guilt.
16 “The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, take some of the dust from the tabernacle floor, and put it in the water. 18 After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair[c] and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has slept with you’— 21 at this point the priest will make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when he makes your womb[d] shrivel and your belly swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your womb to shrivel.’
“And the woman will reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’
23 “Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her to cause bitter suffering. 25 The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman, present the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion(L) and burn it on the altar. Afterward, he will require the woman to drink the water.
27 “When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her womb will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.
29 “This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30 or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest will carry out all these instructions for her. 31 The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear her iniquity.”
Numbers 5
Darby Translation
5 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by a dead person:
3 both male and female shall ye put out; outside the camp shall ye put them, that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp: as Jehovah had said to Moses, so did the children of Israel.
5 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
6 Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any of all the sins of man to work unfaithfulness against Jehovah, and that soul is guilty,
7 then they shall confess their sin which they have done; and he shall recompense his trespass according to the principal thereof, and shall add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
8 And if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, the trespass which is recompensed to Jehovah shall be the priest's, besides the ram of the atonement, wherewith an atonement is made for him.
9 And every heave-offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present unto the priest, shall be his.
10 And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatever any man giveth the priest shall be his.
11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go astray, and commit unfaithfulness against him,
13 and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and she be defiled in secret, and there be no witness against her, and she have not been caught;
14 and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she have been defiled,—or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she have not been defiled,
15 —then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, a tenth part of an ephah of barley-meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an oblation of jealousy, a memorial oblation, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah.
17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall take of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water.
18 And the priest shall set the woman before Jehovah, and uncover the woman's head, and put the memorial oblation in her hands, which is the jealousy offering; and in the hand of the priest shall be the bitter water that bringeth the curse.
19 And the priest shall adjure her, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone astray in uncleanness, in being with another instead of thy husband, be free from this bitter water that bringeth the curse.
20 But if thou hast gone astray to another instead of thy husband, and hast been defiled, and a man other than thy husband have lain with thee,
21 —then the priest shall adjure the woman with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman: Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to shrink, and thy belly to swell;
22 and this water that bringeth the curse shall enter into thy bowels, to make the belly to swell, and the thigh to shrink. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall blot them out with the bitter water,
24 and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that bringeth the curse, that the water that bringeth the curse may enter into her for bitterness.
25 And the priest shall take out of the woman's hand the oblation of jealousy, and shall wave the oblation before Jehovah, and shall present it at the altar.
26 And the priest shall take a handful of the oblation as a memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar; and afterwards he shall make the woman drink the water.
27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she have been defiled, and have committed unfaithfulness against her husband, that the water that bringeth the curse shall enter into her, for bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall shrink; and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
28 But if the woman have not been defiled, and be clean, then she shall be clear, and shall conceive seed.
29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth astray to another instead of her husband and is defiled,
30 or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon a man, and he is jealous as regards his wife; then shall he set the woman before Jehovah, and the priest shall do to her according to all this law.
31 Then shall the man be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her iniquity.
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