Numbers 5
1599 Geneva Bible
5 2 The leprous and the polluted shall be cast forth. 6 The purging of sin. 15 The trial of the suspect wife.
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel that they (A)put out of the host every leper, and every one that hath (B)an issue, and whosoever is defiled by (C)the dead.
3 Both male and female shall ye put out: [a]out of the host shall ye put them, that they defile not their [b]tents among whom I dwell.
4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out of the host, even as the Lord had commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
5 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
6 Speak unto the children of Israel, (D)When a man or woman shall commit any sin [c]that men commit, and transgress against the Lord, when that person shall trespass,
7 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done, and shall restore the damage thereof (E)with his principal, and put the fifth part of it more thereto, and shall give it unto him, against whom he hath trespassed.
8 But if the [d]man have no kinsman, to whom he should restore the damage, the damage shall be restored to the Lord for the Priest’s use, besides the ram of the atonement, whereby he shall make atonement for him.
9 And every offering of all the [e]holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the Priest, shallbe (F)his.
10 And every man’s hallowed things shall be his: that is, whatsoever any man giveth the Priest, it shall be his.
11 ¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife [f]turn to evil, and commit a trespass against him,
13 So that another man lie with her fleshly, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and kept close, and yet she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she taken with the manner,
14 [g]If he be moved with a jealous mind, so that he is jealous over his wife, which is defiled, or if he have a jealous mind, so that he is jealous over his wife, which is not defiled,
15 Then shall the man bring his wife to the Priest, and bring her offering with her, the tenth part of an Ephah of barley meal, but he shall not pour [h]oil upon it, nor put incense thereon: for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering for a remembrance, calling the sin to [i]mind.
16 And the Priest shall bring her, and set her before the Lord.
17 Then the Priest shall take [j]the holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is in the floor of the Tabernacle, even the Priest shall take it and put it into the water.
18 After the Priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of the memorial in her hands: it is the jealousy offering, and the Priest shall have bitter and [k]cursed water in his hand,
19 And the Priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, neither thou hast turned to uncleanness from thine husband, be free from this bitter and cursed water.
20 But if thou hast turned from thine husband, and so art defiled, and some man hath lain with thee besides thine husband,
21 (Then the Priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the Priest shall say unto the woman:) The Lord make thee to be [l]accursed, and detestable for the oath among the people, and the Lord cause thy thigh to [m]rot, and thy belly to swell:
22 And that this cursed water may go into thy bowels, to cause thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot. Then the woman shall answer, [n]Amen, Amen.
23 After, the Priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall [o]blot them out with the bitter water,
24 And shall cause the woman to drink the bitter and cursed water, and the cursed water turned into bitterness shall enter into her.
25 Then the Priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall shake the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar.
26 And the Priest shall take an handful of the offering for a [p]memorial thereof, and burn it upon the [q]altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.
27 When he hath made her drink the water, if she be defiled and have trespassed against her husband, then shall the cursed water, turned into bitterness, enter into her, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot, and the woman shall be accursed among her people.
28 But if the woman be not defiled, but be [r]clean, she shall be free, and shall conceive and bear.
29 This is the law of jealousy, when a wife turneth from her husband and is defiled,
30 Or, when a man is moved with a jealous mind, being jealous over his wife, then shall he bring the woman before the Lord, and the Priest shall do to her according to all this law,
31 And the man shall be [s]free from sin, but this woman shall bear her iniquity.
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:3 Or, in a place out of the host.
- Numbers 5:3 There were three manner of tents: of the Lord, of the Levites, and of the Israelites.
- Numbers 5:6 Commit any fault willingly.
- Numbers 5:8 If he be dead to whom the wrong is done, and also have no kinsman.
- Numbers 5:9 Or, things offered to the Lord, as firstfruits, etc.
- Numbers 5:12 By breaking the band of marriage, and playing the harlot.
- Numbers 5:14 Hebrew, If the spirit of jealousy come upon him.
- Numbers 5:15 Only in the sin offering, and so this offering of jealousy were neither oil nor incense offered.
- Numbers 5:15 Or, making the sin known, and not purging it.
- Numbers 5:17 Which also is called the water of purification or sprinkling, read Num. 19:9.
- Numbers 5:18 It was so called by the effect, because it declared the woman to be accursed, and turned to her destruction.
- Numbers 5:21 Both because she had committed so heinous a fault, and forsware herself in denying the same.
- Numbers 5:21 Hebrew, to fall.
- Numbers 5:22 That is, be it so, as thou wishest, as Ps. 41:23; Deut. 27:15.
- Numbers 5:23 Shall wash the curses, which are written, into the water in the vessel.
- Numbers 5:26 Or, perfume.
- Numbers 5:26 Where the incense was offered.
- Numbers 5:28 Or, innocent.
- Numbers 5:31 The man might accuse his wife upon suspicion, and not be reproved.
Numbers 5
Modern English Version
The Unclean
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is defiled by the dead. 3 Both male and female you will put out. You will put them outside the camp, so they do not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell. 4 The children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp. As the Lord spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.
Restitution for Wrongs
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6 Tell the children of Israel: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, that person is guilty, 7 and shall confess his sin which he has committed, and he will repay his offense with its principal, and add to it one-fifth, and give it to him who was wronged. 8 But if the man has no relative to repay the offense to, let the offense be repaid to the Lord, even to the priest, beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement will be made for him. 9 Every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the priest, will be his. 10 Every man’s holy things will be his. Whatever any man gives the priest, it will be his.
The Test for Adultery
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray, and acts treacherously against him, 13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, nor is she caught in the act, 14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the 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 her offering for her, a tenth of an ephah[a] of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 The priest will bring her near, and set her before the Lord. 17 And the priest will take holy water in an earthen vessel, and the priest will take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 And the priest will set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the memorial offering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and the priest will have in his hand the bitter water that causes the curse. 19 And the priest will charge her by an oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to impurity with another instead of your husband, be free from this bitter water that causes the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray to another instead of your husband, and if you are defiled, and a man besides your husband has lain with you”— 21 then the priest will charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest will say to the woman, “The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh rot and your belly swell. 22 And this water that causes the curse will go into your bowels, to make your belly swell and your thigh rot.”
And the woman will say, “Amen, amen.”
23 The priest will write these curses in a book, and he will wash them out with the bitter water. 24 And he will cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causes the curse. And the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter. 25 Then the priest will take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and will wave the offering before the Lord and offer it on the altar. 26 And the priest will take a handful of the offering, the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward will cause the woman to drink the water. 27 When he has made her to drink the water, then it will be that, if she is defiled and has acted treacherously against her husband, the water that causes the curse will enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly will swell, and her thigh will rot, and the woman will be a curse among her people. 28 If the woman is not defiled, but is clean, then she will be free and will conceive offspring.
29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goes astray to another instead of her husband, and is defiled, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous over his wife, and will set the woman before the Lord, and the priest will perform on her all this law. 31 Then the man will be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman will bear her iniquity.
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:15 Likely about 3½ pounds, or 1.6 kilograms.
Numbers 5
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 Command the children of Israel, that they cast out of the camp every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the dead:
3 Whether it be man or woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest they defile it when I shall dwell with you.
4 And the children of Israel did so, and they cast them forth without the camp, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6 Say to the children of Israel: When a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and offended,
7 They shall confess their sin, and restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over and above, to him against whom they have sinned.
8 But if there be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest's, besides the ram that is offered for expiation, to be an atoning sacrifice.
9 All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong to the priest:
10 And whatsoever is offered into the sanctuary by every one, and is delivered into the hands of the priest, it shall be his.
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
12 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband,
13 Shall have slept with another man, and her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not found in the adultery:
14 If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife, who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,
15 He shall bring her to the priest, and shall offer an oblation for her, the tenth part of a measure of barley meal: he shall not pour oil thereon, nor put frankincense upon it: because it is a sacrifice of jealousy, and an oblation searching out adultery.
16 The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.
17 And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it.
18 And when the woman shall stand before the Lord, he shall uncover her head, and shall, put on her hands the sacrifice of remembrance, and the oblation of jealousy: and he himself shall hold the most bitter waters, whereon he hath heaped curses with execration.
19 And he shall adjure her, and shall say: If another man hath not slept with thee, and if thou be not defiled by forsaking thy husband's bed, these most bitter waters, on which I have heaped curses, shall not hurt thee.
20 But if thou hast gone aside from thy husband, and art defiled, and hast lain with another man:
21 These curses shall light upon thee: The Lord make thee a curse, and an example for all among his people: may he make thy thigh to rot, and may thy belly swell and burst asunder.
22 Let the cursed waters enter into thy belly, and may thy womb swell and thy thigh rot. And the woman shall answer, Amen, amen.
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall wash them out with the most bitter waters, upon which he hath heaped the curses,
24 And he shall give them her to drink. And when she hath drunk them up,
25 The priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and shall elevate it before the Lord, and shall put it upon the altar: yet so as first,
26 To take a handful of the sacrifice of that which is offered, and burn it upon the altar: and so give the most bitter waters to the woman to drink.
27 And when she hath drunk them, if she be defiled, and having despised her husband be guilty of adultery, the malediction shall go through her, and her belly swelling, her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse, and an example to all the people.
28 But if she be not defiled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear children.
29 This is the law of jealousy. If a woman hath gone aside from her husband, and be defiled,
30 And the husband stirred up by the spirit of jealousy bring her before the Lord, and the priest do to her according to all things that are here written:
31 The husband shall be blameless, and she shall bear her iniquity.
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