Add parallel Print Page Options

Rules About Cleanliness

The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from camp anyone with a harmful skin disease. Send away anyone who gives off body fluid. And send away anyone who has touched a dead body. Send both men and women away from camp. Then they won’t spread the disease there. I am living among you.” So Israel obeyed God’s command. They sent those people outside the camp as the Lord had told Moses.

Paying for Doing Wrong

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman does something wrong to another person, that is really sinning against God. That person is guilty. He must tell what he has done wrong. And he must fully pay for the wrong he has done. Then he must add one-fifth to it. And he must give it to the person he wronged. But that person may be dead. That person may not have any close relatives to receive the payment. Then the one who did wrong owes the Lord. That person must pay the priest. The priest must sacrifice a male sheep to remove the wrong so that person will belong to God. When an Israelite brings a holy gift, he should give it to the priest. 10 No one has to give these holy gifts. But if someone does give them, they belong to the priest.’”

Suspicious Husbands

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Tell the Israelites: ‘A man’s wife might be unfaithful to him. 13 She might commit adultery with another man. Her sin might be kept hidden from her husband. Her husband might not know about the wrong thing she did. Perhaps no one saw it, and she wasn’t caught. 14 But her husband might have feelings of jealousy whether she has sinned or not. 15 He then should take her to the priest. The husband must also take an offering for her. This offering will be two quarts of barley flour. He must not pour oil or incense on it. This is a grain offering for jealousy. It is to find out if she is guilty.

16 “‘The priest will bring in the woman and make her stand before the Lord. 17 He will take some holy water in a clay jar. Then he will put some dirt from the floor of the Holy Tent into the water. 18 The priest will make the woman stand before the Lord. Then he will loosen her hair. And he will hand her the grain offering for jealousy. He will hold the bitter water that brings a curse on her. 19 The priest will tell her what the oath says will happen to her. He will ask her, “Has another man committed adultery with you? Have you been unfaithful to your husband? If you haven’t, then this water that brings a curse won’t hurt you. 20 But what if you have been unfaithful to your husband? What if you have committed adultery with a man besides your husband?” 21 The priest will tell her the curse that the oath will bring. He will say, “If you are guilty, the Lord will make the people curse you. Your stomach will get big, and you will not be able to have another baby. 22 This water that brings a curse will go inside you. Your stomach will get big, and you will not be able to have another baby.”

“‘The woman must say, “I agree.”

23 “‘The priest should write these curses on a scroll. Then he should wash the words off into the water. 24 Then he will make the woman drink the water that brings a curse. When she does, it may make her sick. 25 Then the priest will take the grain offering for jealousy from her. He will present it before the Lord. Then he will bring it to the altar. 26 Then the priest will take a handful of the grain. This is a memorial offering. He will burn it on the altar. After that he will make the woman drink the water. 27 He will make her drink it to see if she is not pure. He will know if she has sinned against her husband. When it goes into her, her stomach may get big. And she may not be able to have another baby. Her people will turn against her. 28 But if the woman has not sinned, she is pure. She is not guilty. She will be able to have more babies.

29 “‘So this is the teaching about jealousy. This is what to do when a woman is unfaithful to her husband. 30 It also should be done if the man gets jealous because he suspects his wife. The priest will have her stand before the Lord. Then he will do all these things. This is the teaching. 31 If the husband is right, the woman will suffer.’”

And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

Command the Bnei Yisroel, that they put out of the machaneh every tzaru’a, and every one that hath a discharge, and whosoever is tameh lanefesh (unclean, defiled by reason of contact with a corpse),

Both zakhar and nekevah shall ye put out, without the machaneh shall ye put them; that they defile not their machanot, in the midst whereof I dwell.

And the Bnei Yisroel did so, and put them outside the machaneh; just as Hashem spoke unto Moshe, so did the Bnei Yisroel.

And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

Speak unto the Bnei Yisroel, When a man or woman shall commit any chattot that men commit, l’me’ol ma’al baHashem (thereby trespassing against Hashem), and feels guilty;

Then they shall make vidduy (confession of sin) of their chattot which they have committed; and shall make reparation in full, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom they hath incurred liability.

But if the man have no go’el unto whom reparation for the asham can be made, let the asham be recompensed unto Hashem, even to the kohen, besides the ram of the kippurim, whereby a kapparah shall be made on his behalf.

And every terumah of all the holy things of the Bnei Yisroel, which they bring unto the kohen, shall be his.

10 And every man’s things set apart as kodesh shall be his; whatsoever any man giveth the kohen, it shall be his.

11 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

12 Speak unto the Bnei Yisroel, and say unto them, If any man’s isha go aside, and commit a trespass [i.e., is unfaithful] against him,

13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her ish, and she become tameh secretly, and there be no ed (witness) against her, neither she be caught;

14 And a ruach kina (spirit of jealousy) come upon him, and he be jealous of his isha, and she be tameh; or if a ruach kina come upon him, and he be jealous of his isha, and she be not tameh;

15 Then shall the ish bring his isha unto the kohen, and he shall bring her korban for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no shemen upon it, nor put incense thereon; for it is a minchat kinot (grain offering of jealousies), a minchat zekaron (grain offering of memorial), bringing avon to remembrance.

16 And the kohen shall bring her near, and set her before Hashem;

17 And the kohen shall take mayim kedoshim in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the Mishkan the kohen shall take, and put it into the mayim;

18 And the kohen shall set the isha before Hashem, and unbind the hair of the isha, and put the minchat zekaron in her hands, which is the minchat kena’ot; and the kohen shall have in his hand the mei hamarim hame’ararim (waters of bitterness that causeth the curse);

19 And the kohen shall put her under oath, and say unto the isha, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not turned astray to tum’a (uncleanness, impurity) with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from these mei hamarim hame’ararim;

20 But if thou hast turned astray to another instead of thy ish, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee other than thine ish;

21 Then the kohen shall put the isha under oath with the oath of the curse, and the kohen shall say unto the isha, Hashem make thee an alah (curse) and a shevu’ah (oath) among thy people, when Hashem doth make thy thigh to waste away, and thy belly to swell;

22 And this mayim that causeth the curse shall go into thy inner parts, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to waste away; And the isha shall say, Omen, Omen.

23 And the kohen shall write these alot (curses) on a sefer, and he shall wash them into the mei hamarim;

24 And he shall cause the isha to drink the mei hamarim hame’ararim; and the mayim hame’ararim shall enter into her, and become bitter.

25 Then the kohen shall take the minchat hakena’ot out of the yad haisha, and shall wave the minchah before Hashem, and offer it upon the Mizbe’ach:

26 And the kohen shall take a handful of the minchah, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the Mizbe’ach, and afterward shall cause the isha to drink the mayim.

27 And when he hath made her to drink the mayim, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass [i.e., been unfaithful] against her ish, that the mayim hame’ararim shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall waste away; and the isha shall become a curse among her people.

28 And if the isha be not defiled, but be tehorah (clean); then she shall be free, and shall conceive zera.

29 This is the torat hakena’ot (law of jealousy), when an isha goeth astray to another instead of her ish, and is defiled;

30 Or when the ruach kinah cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his isha, and shall set the isha before Hashem, and the kohen shall execute upon her all this torah.

31 Then shall the ish be free from guilt from avon, and this isha shall bear her avon.