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Unclean Persons

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the Israelites to put out of the camp everyone who has a defiling skin disease or a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with a corpse;(A) you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp; they must not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”(B) The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.

Confession and Restitution

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord, that person incurs guilt(C) and shall confess the sin that has been committed. The person shall make full restitution for the wrong, adding one-fifth to it and giving it to the one who was wronged.(D) If the injured party 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 the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for the guilty party.(E) Among all the sacred donations of the Israelites, every gift that they bring to the priest shall be his.(F) 10 The sacred donations of all are their own; whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”(G)

Concerning an Unfaithful Wife

11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,(H) 13 if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act;(I) 14 if a spirit of jealousy comes on him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes on 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 he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. 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, bringing iniquity to remembrance.(J)

16 “Then the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord; 17 the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 The priest shall set the woman before the Lord, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.(K) 19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had intercourse with you,’ 21 —let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse and say to the woman—‘the Lord make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge;[a](L) 22 now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!’[b] And the woman shall say, ‘Amen. Amen.’(M)

23 “Then the priest shall put these curses in writing and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her and cause bitter pain. 25 The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall elevate the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar,(N) 26 and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion and turn it into smoke on the altar and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall discharge, her uterus drop,[c] and the woman shall become an execration among her people.(O) 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be immune and be able to conceive children.

29 “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,(P) 30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife, then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall apply this entire law to her. 31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

Footnotes

  1. 5.21 Heb makes your thigh fall and your belly distend
  2. 5.22 Heb make the belly distend and the thigh fall
  3. 5.27 Heb make her belly distend and her thigh fall

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”