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Numbers 5-6
English Standard Version
Numbers 5-6
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.”
The Nazirite Vow
6 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of (W)a Nazirite,[d] (X)to separate himself to the Lord, 3 he (Y)shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation[e] he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no (Z)razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. (AA)He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord (AB)he shall not go near a dead body. 7 (AC)Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.
9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then (AD)he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 (AE)On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12 and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old (AF)for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 “And this is the law for the Nazirite, (AG)when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish (AH)as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish (AI)as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, (AJ)loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their (AK)grain offering and their (AL)drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer (AM)his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 And the Nazirite (AN)shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 And the priest shall take the (AO)shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and (AP)shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. (AQ)They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”
Aaron's Blessing
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus (AR)you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 The Lord (AS)bless you and (AT)keep you;
25 the Lord (AU)make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord (AV)lift up his countenance[f] upon you and give you peace.
27 (AW)“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
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
- Numbers 6:2 Nazirite means one separated, or one consecrated
- Numbers 6:4 Or Naziriteship
- Numbers 6:26 Or face
Numbers 5-6
New International Version
Numbers 5-6
New International Version
The Purity of the Camp
5 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease[a](A) or a discharge(B) of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean(C) because of a dead body.(D) 3 Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.(E)” 4 The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
Restitution for Wrongs
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way[b] and so is unfaithful(F) to the Lord is guilty(G) 7 and must confess(H) the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution(I) for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8 But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram(J) with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.(K) 9 All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him.(L) 10 Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.(M)’”
The Test for an Unfaithful Wife
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray(N) and is unfaithful to him 13 so that another man has sexual relations with her,(O) and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14 and if feelings of jealousy(P) come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure— 15 then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah[c](Q) of barley flour(R) on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy,(S) a reminder-offering(T) to draw attention to wrongdoing.
16 “‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair(U) and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy,(V) while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse.(W) 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray(X) and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse(Y) not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray(Z) while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse(AA)—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse[d] among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water(AB) that brings a curse(AC) enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”
“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.(AD)”
23 “‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll(AE) and then wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her. 25 The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord(AF) and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial[e] offering(AG) and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. 27 If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.(AH) 28 If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.
29 “‘This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray(AI) and makes herself impure while married to her husband, 30 or when feelings of jealousy(AJ) come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. 31 The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences(AK) of her sin.’”
The Nazirite
6 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow(AL), a vow of dedication(AM) to the Lord as a Nazirite,(AN) 3 they must abstain from wine(AO) and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar(AP) made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes(AQ) or raisins. 4 As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.
5 “‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor(AR) may be used on their head.(AS) They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.
6 “‘Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body.(AT) 7 Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean(AU) on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head. 8 Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord.
9 “‘If someone dies suddenly in the Nazirite’s presence, thus defiling the hair that symbolizes their dedication,(AV) they must shave their head on the seventh day—the day of their cleansing.(AW) 10 Then on the eighth day(AX) they must bring two doves or two young pigeons(AY) to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(AZ) 11 The priest is to offer one as a sin offering[f](BA) and the other as a burnt offering(BB) to make atonement(BC) for the Nazirite because they sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day they are to consecrate their head again. 12 They must rededicate themselves to the Lord for the same period of dedication and must bring a year-old male lamb(BD) as a guilt offering.(BE) The previous days do not count, because they became defiled during their period of dedication.
13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the period of their dedication is over.(BF) They are to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.(BG) 14 There they are to present their offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect(BH) for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering,(BI) a ram(BJ) without defect for a fellowship offering,(BK) 15 together with their grain offerings(BL) and drink offerings,(BM) and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast—thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil.(BN)
16 “‘The priest is to present all these(BO) before the Lord(BP) and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.(BQ) 17 He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering(BR) to the Lord, together with its grain offering(BS) and drink offering.(BT)
18 “‘Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication.(BU) They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.
19 “‘After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair that symbolizes their dedication, the priest is to place in their hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket, both made without yeast.(BV) 20 The priest shall then wave these before the Lord as a wave offering;(BW) they are holy(BX) and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented.(BY) After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.(BZ)
21 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite(CA) who vows offerings to the Lord in accordance with their dedication, in addition to whatever else they can afford. They must fulfill the vows(CB) they have made, according to the law of the Nazirite.’”
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless(CC) the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “‘“The Lord bless you(CD)
and keep you;(CE)
25 the Lord make his face shine on you(CF)
and be gracious to you;(CG)
26 the Lord turn his face(CH) toward you
and give you peace.(CI)”’
27 “So they will put my name(CJ) on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
- Numbers 5:6 Or woman who commits any wrong common to mankind
- Numbers 5:15 That is, probably about 3 1/2 pounds or about 1.6 kilograms
- Numbers 5:21 That is, may he cause your name to be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, may others see that you are cursed; similarly in verse 27.
- Numbers 5:26 Or representative
- Numbers 6:11 Or purification offering; also in verses 14 and 16
Mark 4:1-20
English Standard Version
Mark 4:1-20
English Standard Version
The Parable of the Sower
4 Again (A)he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, (B)so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And (C)he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, (D)a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And (E)when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, (F)it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among (G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and (H)a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, (I)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
10 And (J)when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, (K)“To you has been given (L)the secret of the kingdom of God, but for (M)those outside everything is in parables, 12 (N)so that
“‘they (O)may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they (P)should turn and be forgiven.’”
13 (Q)And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 (R)The sower sows (S)the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it (T)with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but (U)endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately (V)they fall away.[a] 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but (W)the cares of (X)the world and (Y)the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and (Z)bear fruit, (AA)thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Mark 4:17 Or stumble
Mark 4:1-20
New International Version
Mark 4:1-20
New International Version
The Parable of the Sower(A)(B)
4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.(C) The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables,(D) and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.(E) 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”(F)
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”(G)
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God(H) has been given to you. But to those on the outside(I) everything is said in parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a]”(J)
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word.(K) 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan(L) comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth(M) and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
Footnotes
- Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10
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