Numbers 5
New American Standard Bible
On Defilement
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they (A)send away from the camp everyone with leprosy, everyone having a (B)discharge, and everyone who is (C)unclean because of contact with a dead person. 3 You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they do not defile their camp where I dwell (D)in their midst.” 4 And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as the Lord had spoken to Moses, that is what the sons of Israel did.
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘(E)When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, 7 then [a]he shall (F)confess [b]his sin which [c]he has committed, and he (G)shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it a fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. 8 But if the person has no [d]redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. 9 (H)Also every [e]contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. 10 So every person’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever anyone gives to the priest, it (I)becomes his.’”
The Adultery Test
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife (J)goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man has (K)sexual relations with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she remains undiscovered, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, 14 [f]if [g]an attitude of (L)jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if [h]an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, 15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as [i]an offering for her a tenth of an [j]ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of reminder, (M)a reminder of wrongdoing.
16 ‘Then the priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord, 17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware container; and [k]he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water. 18 The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord and let down the hair of the woman’s head, and place the grain offering of reminder [l]in her hands, that is, the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 And the priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has had sexual relations with you and if you have not (N)gone astray into uncleanness, as you are under the authority of your husband, be [m]immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; 20 if, however, you have (O)gone astray, though under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had sexual intercourse with you” 21 (then the priest shall have the woman (P)swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “may the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people by the Lord’s making your thigh [n]shriveled and your [o]belly swollen; 22 and this water that brings a curse shall go into your [p]stomach, to make your belly swell up and your thigh [q]shrivel.” And the woman (Q)shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
23 ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall [r]wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her [s]and cause bitterness. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar; 26 and (R)the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its reminder offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then it will come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her [t]and cause bitterness, and her belly will swell up and her thigh will [u]shrivel, and the woman will become (S)a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be [v]immune and conceive [w]children.
29 ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, who is under the authority of her husband, (T)goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when [x]an attitude of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply all of this law to her. 31 The man, moreover, will be free of [y]guilt, but that woman shall (U)bear the consequences of her [z]guilt.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:7 Lit they
- Numbers 5:7 Lit their
- Numbers 5:7 Lit they have
- Numbers 5:8 I.e., male relative to act in his behalf
- Numbers 5:9 Or uplifted offering
- Numbers 5:14 Lit and
- Numbers 5:14 Lit a spirit
- Numbers 5:14 Lit a spirit
- Numbers 5:15 Lit her offering
- Numbers 5:15 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
- Numbers 5:17 Lit the priest
- Numbers 5:18 Lit on her palms
- Numbers 5:19 Lit free from
- Numbers 5:21 Lit collapsed
- Numbers 5:21 Possibly the womb, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 5:22 Or inward parts
- Numbers 5:22 Lit collapse
- Numbers 5:23 Lit wipe
- Numbers 5:24 Lit for bitterness
- Numbers 5:27 Lit for bitterness
- Numbers 5:27 Lit collapse
- Numbers 5:28 Lit free
- Numbers 5:28 Lit seed
- Numbers 5:30 Lit a spirit
- Numbers 5:31 Or wrongdoing
- Numbers 5:31 Or wrongdoing
Numbers 5
English Standard Version
Unclean People
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel that they (A)put out of the camp everyone who is leprous[a] or has (B)a discharge and everyone who is (C)unclean through contact with the dead. 3 You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, (D)in the midst of which I dwell.” 4 And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.
Confession and Restitution
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the people of Israel, (E)When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 (F)he shall confess his sin that he has committed.[b] (G)And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. 8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to (H)the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. 9 And (I)every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”
A Test for Adultery
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him, 13 if a man (J)lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, (K)since she was not taken in the act, 14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah[c] of barley flour. (L)He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, (M)bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 “And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord. 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some 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 the Lord and (N)unbind the hair of the woman's head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. 19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you, 21 then’ (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) (O)‘the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. 22 May this water that brings the curse (P)pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, (Q)‘Amen, Amen.’
23 “Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand (R)and shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar. 26 And the priest (S)shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman (T)shall become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.
29 “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, (U)though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law. 31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman (V)shall bear her iniquity.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
- Numbers 5:7 Hebrew they shall confess their sin that they have committed
- Numbers 5:15 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
