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Rules Concerning Those Unclean

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the Israelites:[a] they must send everyone from the camp who is afflicted with a rash,[b] everyone with a fluid discharge, and everyone unclean through contact with a corpse. You will send away both male and female;[c] you will send them outside the camp.[d] They must not make unclean their camps where I am dwelling in their midst.” So the Israelites[e] did so. They sent them away outside the camp;[f] just as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so did the Israelites.[g]

Rules of Restitution

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites:[h] ‘When a man or woman commits[i] any of the sins of humankind by acting unfaithfully, it is a sin against Yahweh, and that person will be guilty; they will confess their sin that they did and will make restitution for their[j] guilt by adding a fifth to it[k] and giving it to whomever was wronged.[l] But if the man does not have a redeemer to make restitution to him for the reparation, the reparation is to be given to Yahweh for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement by which atonement is made for him. And every contribution of all the holy objects of the Israelites[m] that they bring to the priest for him will be his. 10 The holy objects of a man will be for him;[n] whatever he gives to the priest will be for him.’”

Rules Concerning an Unfaithful Wife

11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the Israelites[o] and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully to him, 13 and a man sleeps with her and ejaculates and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is concealed, although she is defiled, and there is no witness against her and she was not caught, 14 if a spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she is not defiled, 15 he will bring his wife to the priest. And he will bring her offering for her, one-tenth of an ephah of flour. He will not pour oil on it, and he will not put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembering,[p] a reminding of guilt.

16 “‘Then the priest will bring her near and present her before[q] Yahweh; 17 the priest will take holy waters in a clay vessel, and from the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and the priest will put it into the waters. 18 And the priest will present the woman before[r] Yahweh, and he will uncover the head of the woman; he will then put in her hands the grain offering of the remembering—which is the grain offering of jealousy—and in the hand of the priest will be the waters of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest will make her swear an oath, and he will say to the woman, “If a man has not slept with you, and if you have not had an impurity affair under your husband, go unpunished from the waters of bitterness that brings this curse. 20 But if you have had an affair under your husband, and if you are defiled and a man other than your husband had intercourse with you,” 21 the priest will make the woman swear an oath of the sworn oath of the curse, the priest will say to the woman, “May Yahweh give you a curse and a sworn oath in the midst of your people with Yahweh making[s] your hip fall away[t] and your stomach swollen; 22 and these waters that bring a curse will go into your intestines to cause your womb to swell and to make your hip fall away.”[u] And the women will say, “Amen. Amen.”

23 “‘And the priests will write these curses on the scroll, and he will wipe them off into the waters of the bitterness. 24 He will make the woman drink the waters of the bitterness that brings[v] a curse, and the waters of bitterness that bring a curse will go into her. 25 The priest will take the grain offering of jealousy from the hand of the woman, and he will wave the grain offering before Yahweh,[w] and he will present it to the altar; 26 the priest will grasp her memorial offering from the grain offering, and he will turn it into smoke on the altar, and afterward he will make the woman drink the waters. 27 When he has made her drink the waters, it will come about, if she has defiled herself and acted unfaithfully to her husband and the waters of bitterness that bring a curse go into her and her stomach swells and her hip falls away,[x] the woman will be as a curse in the midst of her people. 28 And if the woman is not defiled, and she is pure, she will go unpunished and be able to conceive children.

29 “‘This is the regulation of jealousy, when a woman has an affair under her husband and she is defiled, 30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he will present the woman before Yahweh,[y]and the priest will do to her all of this law. 31 The man will go unpunished from guilt, and the woman, she will bear her guilt.’”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 5:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Numbers 5:2 The precise meaning is uncertain; many modern translations suggest “leprosy”
  3. Numbers 5:3 Literally “from male until female”
  4. Numbers 5:3 Literally “to an outside place of the camp”
  5. Numbers 5:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  6. Numbers 5:4 Literally “to an outside place of the camp”
  7. Numbers 5:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  8. Numbers 5:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  9. Numbers 5:6 Literally “does”
  10. Numbers 5:7 Hebrew “his”
  11. Numbers 5:7 Literally “on top of it”
  12. Numbers 5:7 Literally “to whomever he was guilty”
  13. Numbers 5:9 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  14. Numbers 5:10 That is, the priest
  15. Numbers 5:12 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  16. Numbers 5:15 Or “memorial”
  17. Numbers 5:16 Literally “before the face of”
  18. Numbers 5:18 Literally “before the face of”
  19. Numbers 5:21 Hebrew “giving”
  20. Numbers 5:21 Or “waste away”
  21. Numbers 5:22 Or “waste away”
  22. Numbers 5:24 Hebrew “bring”
  23. Numbers 5:25 Literally “before the face of Yahweh”
  24. Numbers 5:27 Or “wastes away”
  25. Numbers 5:30 Literally “before the face of”

1-2 These are further instructions from the Lord to Moses: “Inform the people of Israel that they must expel all lepers from the camp, and all who have open sores, or who have been defiled by touching a dead person. This applies to men and women alike. Remove them so that they will not defile the camp where I live among you.” These instructions were put into effect.

5-6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that when anyone, man or woman, betrays the Lord by betraying a trust, it is sin. He must confess his sin and make full repayment for what he has stolen,[a] adding 20 percent and returning it to the person he took it from. But if the person he wronged is dead,[b] and there is no near relative to whom the payment can be made, it must be given to the priest, along with a lamb for atonement. 9-10 When the people of Israel bring a gift to the Lord it shall go to the priests.”

11-12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that if a man’s wife commits adultery, 13 but there is no proof, there being no witness, 14 and he is jealous and suspicious, 15 the man shall bring his wife to the priest with an offering for her of a tenth of a bushel of barley meal without oil or frankincense mingled with it—for it is a suspicion offering—to bring out the truth[c] as to whether or not she is guilty.

16 “The priest shall bring her before the Lord, 17 and take holy water in a clay jar and mix into it dust from the floor of the Tabernacle. 18 He shall unbind her hair and place the suspicion offering in her hands to determine whether or not her husband’s suspicions are justified. The priest shall stand before her holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse. 19 He shall require her to swear that she is innocent, and then he shall say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you except your husband, be free from the effects of this bitter water that causes the curse. 20 But if you have committed adultery, 21-22 then Jehovah shall make you a curse among your people, for he will make your thigh rot away and your body swell.’ And the woman shall be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’ 23 Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 (When he requires the woman to drink the water, it becomes bitter within her if she is guilty.[d])

25 “Then the priest shall take the suspicion offering from the woman’s hand and wave it before Jehovah, and carry it to the altar. 26 He shall take a handful, representing all of it, and burn the handful upon the altar, and then require the woman to drink the water. 27 If she has been defiled, having committed adultery against her husband, the water will become bitter within her, and her body will swell and her thigh will rot, and she shall be a curse among her people. 28 But if she is pure and has not committed adultery, she shall be unharmed and will soon become pregnant.

29 “This, then, is the law concerning a wayward wife—or a husband’s suspicions against his wife— 30 to determine whether or not she has been unfaithful to him. He shall bring her before the Lord and the priest shall handle the situation as outlined above. 31 Her husband shall not be brought to trial for causing her horrible disease, for she is responsible.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 5:7 for what he has stolen, literally, “for his wrong.”
  2. Numbers 5:8 But if the person he wronged is dead, implied.
  3. Numbers 5:15 a suspicion offering—to bring out the truth, literally, “an offering of remembrance.”
  4. Numbers 5:24 if she is guilty, implied.