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
International Standard Version
On Unclean Persons
5 The Lord told Moses, 2 “Command the Israelis to send outside the encampment every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is ritually defiled by contact with a corpse.[a] 3 Whether male or female, send them outside the camp so that they won’t defile their camp, because I live among them.” 4 So the Israelis sent them outside the camp. The Israelis did just what the Lord had told Moses.
On Restitution for Offenses
5 The Lord told Moses, 6 “Instruct the Israelis that whenever a man or woman does something contained in the list[b] of the sins of man, thereby acting treacherously against the Lord, then that person stands guilty. 7 He[c] is to confess the sin that he had committed, pay its full compensation, add one fifth to it, and give the compensation to whomever he offended. 8 But if the person has no related redeemer to whom compensation may be made, the payment is to be brought to the Lord and given to the priest, in addition to a ram for atonement with which he is to be atoned. 9 Every offering from all the most sacred things of the Israelis that they bring to the priest is to belong to him. 10 Furthermore, everyone’s sacred things belong to him, as well as whatever a person gives to the priest.”
The Test for Marital Unfaithfulness
11 Then the Lord told Moses, 12 “Instruct the Israelis what to do if a man’s wife turns astray so that she unfaithfully acts against him, 13 a man has sexual relations[d] with her and she conceals it from her husband,[e] keeping it secret although she has defiled herself with there being no witnesses against her, but she was caught anyway. 14 If an attitude of jealousy overcomes him so that he becomes jealous at his wife when she is defiled, or if an attitude of jealousy overcomes him and he becomes jealous of his wife even though she isn’t defiled, 15 then that man is to bring his wife to the priest along with an offering for her consisting of a tenth of an ephah[f] of barley flour. He is not to pour oil or set frankincense over it, because it’s to be a jealousy offering, a memorial offering that will serve as a reminder of iniquity. 16 Then the priest is to bring it and make her stand in the Lord’s presence. 17 The priest is to put some holy water into an earthen vessel, take some dust from the floor of the tent, and put it into the water. 18 The priest is to have the woman stand in the Lord’s presence, uncover her head,[g] and put the grain offering as a memorial, a reminder of jealousy, into her hands. The priest is also to have in his hand the contaminated[h] water that carries a curse.
19 “The priest is to administer this oath to the woman: ‘If indeed another man didn’t have sexual relations[i] with you and you didn’t become unfaithful to your husband,[j] then may you be free from these waters that bring a curse. 20 But if you have become unfaithful to your husband and have become defiled because a man who isn’t your husband has had sexual relations with you…’ 21 then the priest is to have the woman commit to an oath by saying to the woman, ‘May the Lord make you a curse and a curse among your people. When the Lord makes your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell 22 and this water that brings a curse enters your abdomen, making it swell and your thigh waste away.’
“Then the woman is to say ‘Amen.’
23 “Then the priest is to write all of these words in a document and wipe it off with the contaminated water. 24 The woman is to drink the bitter water that brings a curse and the water that brings a curse is to be considered contaminated. 25 The priest is to take the offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, wave the offering in the Lord’s presence, and have her approach the altar. 26 The priest is to take a handful of grain from the memorial and offer a sacrifice on the altar, after which he is to have the woman drink the water. 27 When he has had her drink the water, if she was defiled and had acted unfaithfully toward her husband, then the contaminated water that brings a curse will enter her and infect her, causing her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away. Then she is to be a cursed woman among her people. 28 But if the woman isn’t defiled, then she is to be freed and will be able to bear children.[k] 29 This is the law in cases of jealousy when a woman defiles herself while under her husband’s authority: 30 When a man becomes under the control of an attitude[l] of jealousy regarding his wife, he is to present her to the Lord, and the priest is to apply this entire statute to her. 31 The husband[m] will be free from guilt, but the wife is to bear the punishment of her iniquity.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:2 Lit. soul
- Numbers 5:6 The Heb. lacks something contained in the list
- Numbers 5:7 Lit. they
- Numbers 5:13 Lit. lies down with her
- Numbers 5:13 Or man
- Numbers 5:15 I.e., an ephah was equal to from 2 /3 to 3 /4 of a bushel
- Numbers 5:18 Lit. head of the woman
- Numbers 5:18 Lit. bitter, and so throughout the chapter
- Numbers 5:19 Or lie with a man
- Numbers 5:19 Or man
- Numbers 5:28 Lit. and sow seed
- Numbers 5:30 Lit. spirit
- Numbers 5:31 Or man
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