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Separation From the Unclean

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Command the Israelites to send outside of the camp everyone who has an impure skin disease,[a] everyone who has a bodily discharge, and everyone who is unclean because of contact with a dead body. You must send them away, male or female. You must send them outside of the camp so that they will not defile their camps, where I dwell in their midst.”

The Israelites did exactly that and sent them outside of the camp. The Israelites did just as the Lord said to Moses.

Compensation for Wrongdoing

The Lord spoke to Moses and told him to tell the Israelites this:

Whenever a man or a woman commits any wrong against another person and so in this way is unfaithful to the Lord, that person must be held responsible. Such people are to confess the wrong which they have done. They are to make full restitution for their guilt, then add one fifth of its value on top of that and give it to the person they have wronged. But if the wronged person has no next-of-kin to receive the restitution, the restitution goes to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the atonement ram, with which the priest will make atonement for him. Every elevated offering that the Israelites present to the priest will belong to the priest. 10 Anyone’s holy things[b] are his own, but whatever anyone gives to the priest is the priest’s.

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[c] 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[d] 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.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 5:2 Traditionally leprosy. However, the term is wider than this specific disease. The term includes various sorts of skin diseases.
  2. Numbers 5:10 Or dedicated things
  3. Numbers 5:13 As a term for sexual intercourse, lie down with usually refers to illicit sexual relations initiated by a man. The same word is used in verses 19 and 20 where it is translated more freely.
  4. Numbers 5:15 One tenth (of an ephah). The text lists no unit of measurement. It is assumed it is an ephah.

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”