Numbers 5
Contemporary English Version
People Are Sent Outside the Camp
5 The Lord told Moses 2-3 to say to the people of Israel, “Put out of the camp everyone who has leprosy[a] or a bodily discharge or who has touched a dead body. Now that I live among my people, their camp must be kept clean.”
4 The Israelites obeyed the Lord's instructions.
The Penalty for Committing a Crime
(Leviticus 6.1-7)
5 (A) The Lord told Moses 6 to say to the community of Israel:
If any of you commit a crime against someone, you have sinned against me. 7 You must confess your guilt and pay the victim in full for whatever damage has been done, plus a fine of 20 percent. 8 If the victim has no relative who can accept this money, it belongs to me and will be paid to the priest. In addition to that payment, you must take a ram for the priest to sacrifice so your sin will be forgiven.
9-10 When you make a donation to the sacred tent, that money belongs only to the priest, and each priest will keep what is given to him.
A Suspicious Husband
11 The Lord told Moses 12-14 to say to the people of Israel:
Suppose a man becomes jealous and suspects that his wife has been unfaithful, but he has no proof. 15 He must take his wife to the priest, together with one kilogram of ground barley as an offering to find out if she is guilty. No olive oil or incense is to be put on that offering.
16 The priest will lead the woman to my altar and make her stand there. 17 He will then pour sacred water into a clay jar and stir in some dust from the floor of the sacred tent. 18-22 Next, he will remove her veil, then hand her the barley offering, and say, “If you have been faithful to your husband, this water won't harm you. But if you have been unfaithful, it will bring down the Lord's curse—you will never be able to give birth to a child, and everyone will curse your name.”
Then the woman will answer, “If I am guilty, let it happen just as you say.”
23 The priest will write these curses on special paper and wash them off into the bitter water, 24 so that when the woman drinks this water, the curses will enter her body. 25 He will take the barley offering from her and lift it up[b] in dedication to me, the Lord. Then he will place it on my altar 26 and burn part of it as a sacrifice. After that, the woman must drink the bitter water.
27 If the woman has been unfaithful, the water will immediately make her unable to have children, and she will be a curse among her people. 28 But if she is innocent, her body will not be harmed, and she will still be able to have children.
29-30 This is the ceremony that must take place at my altar when a husband suspects that his wife has been unfaithful. The priest must tell the woman to stand in my presence and carefully follow these instructions. 31 If the husband is wrong, he will not be punished; but if his wife is guilty, she will be punished.
Numbers 5
Legacy Standard Bible
Unclean Sent Outside the Camp
5 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they (A)send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a (B)discharge and everyone who is [a](C)unclean because of a dead person. 3 You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell (D)in their midst.” 4 And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses, thus the sons of Israel did.
Restitution for Sins
5 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘(E)When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against Yahweh, and that person is guilty, 7 then [b]he shall (F)confess [c]his sins which [d]he has committed, and he (G)shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it and give it to him whom he has [e]wronged. 8 But if the man has no kinsman redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to Yahweh for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. 9 (H)Also every [f]contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they bring near to the priest, shall be his. 10 So every man’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it (I)becomes his.’”
The Statutes of Jealousy
11 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife (J)goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man lies (K)sexually with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is [g]undetected; but she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught in the act, 14 [h]if a spirit of (L)jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife and she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she has not defiled herself, 15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest and shall bring as [i]an offering for her one-tenth of an [j]ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, (M)a reminder of iniquity.
16 ‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before Yahweh, 17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware 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 then have the woman stand before Yahweh and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and he shall place the grain offering of remembrance [k]in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings curses. 19 Then the priest shall have her swear an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not (N)gone astray into [l]defilement, being under the authority of your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings curses; 20 if you, however, have (O)gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and a man other than your husband has lain with you” 21 (then the priest shall have the woman (P)swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people by Yahweh making your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell; 22 and this water that brings curses shall go into your [m]stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh fall away.” And the woman (Q)shall say, “Amen. Amen.”
23 ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall [n]wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings curses, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her to cause bitterness. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it near to the altar; 26 and (R)the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 So he will have her drink the water, and it will be that, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings curses will go into her to cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become (S)a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive a seed.
29 ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, (T)goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. 31 Moreover, the man will be free from [o]guilt, but that woman shall (U)bear her [p]guilt.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:2 Or defiled, cf. 5:3, 13, 14
- Numbers 5:7 Lit they
- Numbers 5:7 Lit their
- Numbers 5:7 Lit they have
- Numbers 5:7 Lit guilty
- Numbers 5:9 Lit heave offering
- Numbers 5:13 Lit concealed
- Numbers 5:14 Lit and
- Numbers 5:15 Lit her
- Numbers 5:15 An ephah was approx. 21 qt. or 23 l
- Numbers 5:18 Lit on her palms
- Numbers 5:19 Or uncleanness
- Numbers 5:22 Or inward parts
- Numbers 5:23 Lit wipe
- Numbers 5:31 Or iniquity
- Numbers 5:31 Or iniquity
Numbers 5
International Standard Version
On Unclean Persons
5 The Lord told Moses, 2 “Command the Israelis to send outside the encampment every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is ritually defiled by contact with a corpse.[a] 3 Whether male or female, send them outside the camp so that they won’t defile their camp, because I live among them.” 4 So the Israelis sent them outside the camp. The Israelis did just what the Lord had told Moses.
On Restitution for Offenses
5 The Lord told Moses, 6 “Instruct the Israelis that whenever a man or woman does something contained in the list[b] of the sins of man, thereby acting treacherously against the Lord, then that person stands guilty. 7 He[c] is to confess the sin that he had committed, pay its full compensation, add one fifth to it, and give the compensation to whomever he offended. 8 But if the person has no related redeemer to whom compensation may be made, the payment is to be brought to the Lord and given to the priest, in addition to a ram for atonement with which he is to be atoned. 9 Every offering from all the most sacred things of the Israelis that they bring to the priest is to belong to him. 10 Furthermore, everyone’s sacred things belong to him, as well as whatever a person gives to the priest.”
The Test for Marital Unfaithfulness
11 Then the Lord told Moses, 12 “Instruct the Israelis what to do if a man’s wife turns astray so that she unfaithfully acts against him, 13 a man has sexual relations[d] with her and she conceals it from her husband,[e] keeping it secret although she has defiled herself with there being no witnesses against her, but she was caught anyway. 14 If an attitude of jealousy overcomes him so that he becomes jealous at his wife when she is defiled, or if an attitude of jealousy overcomes him and he becomes jealous of his wife even though she isn’t defiled, 15 then that man is to bring his wife to the priest along with an offering for her consisting of a tenth of an ephah[f] of barley flour. He is not to pour oil or set frankincense over it, because it’s to be a jealousy offering, a memorial offering that will serve as a reminder of iniquity. 16 Then the priest is to bring it and make her stand in the Lord’s presence. 17 The priest is to put some holy water into an earthen vessel, take some dust from the floor of the tent, and put it into the water. 18 The priest is to have the woman stand in the Lord’s presence, uncover her head,[g] and put the grain offering as a memorial, a reminder of jealousy, into her hands. The priest is also to have in his hand the contaminated[h] water that carries a curse.
19 “The priest is to administer this oath to the woman: ‘If indeed another man didn’t have sexual relations[i] with you and you didn’t become unfaithful to your husband,[j] then may you be free from these waters that bring a curse. 20 But if you have become unfaithful to your husband and have become defiled because a man who isn’t your husband has had sexual relations with you…’ 21 then the priest is to have the woman commit to an oath by saying to the woman, ‘May the Lord make you a curse and a curse among your people. When the Lord makes your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell 22 and this water that brings a curse enters your abdomen, making it swell and your thigh waste away.’
“Then the woman is to say ‘Amen.’
23 “Then the priest is to write all of these words in a document and wipe it off with the contaminated water. 24 The woman is to drink the bitter water that brings a curse and the water that brings a curse is to be considered contaminated. 25 The priest is to take the offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, wave the offering in the Lord’s presence, and have her approach the altar. 26 The priest is to take a handful of grain from the memorial and offer a sacrifice on the altar, after which he is to have the woman drink the water. 27 When he has had her drink the water, if she was defiled and had acted unfaithfully toward her husband, then the contaminated water that brings a curse will enter her and infect her, causing her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away. Then she is to be a cursed woman among her people. 28 But if the woman isn’t defiled, then she is to be freed and will be able to bear children.[k] 29 This is the law in cases of jealousy when a woman defiles herself while under her husband’s authority: 30 When a man becomes under the control of an attitude[l] of jealousy regarding his wife, he is to present her to the Lord, and the priest is to apply this entire statute to her. 31 The husband[m] will be free from guilt, but the wife is to bear the punishment of her iniquity.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:2 Lit. soul
- Numbers 5:6 The Heb. lacks something contained in the list
- Numbers 5:7 Lit. they
- Numbers 5:13 Lit. lies down with her
- Numbers 5:13 Or man
- Numbers 5:15 I.e., an ephah was equal to from 2 /3 to 3 /4 of a bushel
- Numbers 5:18 Lit. head of the woman
- Numbers 5:18 Lit. bitter, and so throughout the chapter
- Numbers 5:19 Or lie with a man
- Numbers 5:19 Or man
- Numbers 5:28 Lit. and sow seed
- Numbers 5:30 Lit. spirit
- Numbers 5:31 Or man
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