Numbers 5
World English Bible
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. 3 You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”
4 The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Yahweh, and that soul is guilty, 7 then he shall confess his sin which he has done; and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty. 8 But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to Yahweh shall be the priest’s, in addition to the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him. 9 Every heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his. 10 Every man’s holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.’”
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; 14 and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she isn’t defiled; 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah[a] of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 16 The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh. 17 The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall 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 Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—” 21 then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 22 and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
23 “‘The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness. 24 He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 25 The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before Yahweh, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse among her people. 28 If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring.[b]
29 “‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before Yahweh, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. 31 The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.’”
Numbers 5
GOD’S WORD Translation
Removing Unclean People from the Camp
5 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to send outside the camp anyone who has a serious skin disease or a discharge or anyone who is unclean [a] from touching a dead body. 3 Send all of these unclean men and women outside the camp. They must not make this camp where I live among you unclean.” 4 So the Israelites did as the Lord had told Moses. They sent these unclean people outside the camp.
Confessing and Paying for Sins
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Tell the Israelites: If you do something wrong to another person, you have been unfaithful to the Lord. When you realize your guilt, 7 you must confess your sin, pay in full for what you did wrong, add one-fifth to it, and give it to the person who was wronged. 8 But there may be no heir to whom the payment can be made. In that case, the payment for what you did wrong must be given to the Lord for the priest ⌞to use⌟. This payment is in addition to the ram which makes peace with the Lord.
9 “Any contribution over and above the holy offerings that the Israelites bring to the priest will belong to the priest. 10 Each person’s holy offerings will belong to that person, but whatever is given to the priest will belong to the priest.”
When a Husband Suspects That His Wife Has Been Unfaithful
11 The Lord said to Moses: 12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: A man’s wife may have been unfaithful to him 13 and may have had sexual intercourse with another man without her husband’s knowledge. She may have kept it secret if there were no witnesses to accuse her and she wasn’t caught in the act.
14 “A husband may have a fit of jealousy and suspect his wife, whether she was actually unfaithful or not. 15 He must then take his wife to the priest along with eight cups of barley flour as an offering for her. He must not pour olive oil on the flour or put frankincense on it, since it is a grain offering brought because of the husband’s jealousy, an offering used for a confession—to remind someone of a sin that was committed.
16 “The priest will have the woman come forward and stand in the Lord’s presence. 17 Then the priest will take holy water in a piece of pottery and put some dust from the floor of the tent into the water. 18 The priest will bring the woman into the Lord’s presence and loosen her hair. In her hands he will put the offering used for a confession (that is, the grain offering brought because of the husband’s jealousy). The priest will hold in his hands the bitter water that can bring a curse.[b]
19 “Then the priest will say to her, ‘If no other man has had sexual intercourse with you and you haven’t been unfaithful to your husband, you’re not guilty. This bitter water that can bring a curse will not harm you. 20 If, in fact, you have been unfaithful and have had sexual intercourse with another man, 21 may the Lord make you an example for your people to see what happens when the curse of this oath comes true: The Lord will make your uterus drop and your stomach swell.’ [c]
“Then the priest will administer the oath and the curse by saying: 22 ‘May this water that can bring a curse go into your body and make your stomach swell and your uterus drop!’
“Then the woman will say, ‘Amen, amen!’
23 “The priest will write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 Then he will have the woman drink the bitter water that can bring the curse. This water will go into her ⌞and⌟ become bitter. 25 The priest will take the grain offering she was holding, present it to the Lord, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest will take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Then he will have the woman drink the water. 27 If she has become unclean by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that can bring the curse will go into her and become bitter. Her stomach will swell, her uterus will drop, and she will become cursed among her people. 28 But if the woman is not unclean and is pure, she is not guilty and will be able to have children.
29 “These are the instructions for how to deal with jealousy. They tell you what to do when a woman is unfaithful to her husband and becomes unclean. 30 They also tell you what to do when a husband has a fit of jealousy and is suspicious of his wife. He will make his wife stand in the Lord’s presence, and the priest will do everything these instructions tell him to do. 31 The husband isn’t guilty of doing anything wrong, but the woman will suffer the consequences of her sin.”
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