Numbers 5:11-31

Evangelical Heritage Version

A Test for Adultery

¹¹ The Lord told Moses to speak to the Israelites and tell them this:

¹² If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and another man lies down with^[a] her, but this remains hidden from her husband and she is not found out, she has defiled herself even though there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act.

¹⁴ If a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he becomes jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, even 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 on her behalf: two quarts^[b] of barley flour. He is not to pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance, to reveal guilt.

¹⁶ The priest is to bring her near and present her before the Lord. ¹⁷ The priest is to take holy water in a clay vessel, take some of the dust that is on the floor of the Dwelling, and put it into the water. ¹⁸ The priest is to present the woman before the Lord, let down the woman’s hair, and put into her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to have in his hands the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹ The priest will make her take an oath, and he will tell the woman, “If no man has slept with you, and if you have not gone astray by becoming defiled while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not affect you. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while married to your husband, and if you are defiled and another man besides your husband has had sex with you—” ²¹ Then the priest will make the woman take an oath with a curse, and the priest will tell the woman, “May the Lord make you an object of cursing and swearing among your people when the Lord allows your thigh to shrivel and your belly to swell. ²² May this water that brings a curse go inside you and make your belly swell and your thigh shrivel.” The woman will say, “Amen, Amen.”

²³ The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wipe them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. The water that brings a curse will enter into her and become bitter. ²⁵ The priest will take the grain offering for jealousy out of the woman’s hand, wave the grain offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. ²⁶ The priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Afterward he will make the woman drink the water.

²⁷ When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter into her and become bitter. Her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrivel. The woman will be an object of cursing among her people. ²⁸ If the woman has not defiled herself but is clean, then she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.

²⁹ This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife, while married to her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰ or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he is jealous of his wife. Then the man will present the woman before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire procedure to her. ³¹ The man will be free from guilt, but that woman will bear her guilt.