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Numbers 5
New International Reader's Version
Numbers 5
New International Reader's Version
Making the Camp Pure
5 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites that certain people must be sent away from the camp. Command them to send away anyone who has a skin disease. They must send away all those who have liquid waste coming from their bodies. And they must send away those who are ‘unclean’ because they have touched a dead body. 3 That applies to men and women alike. Send them out of the camp. They must not make their camp ‘unclean.’ That is where I live among them.” 4 So the Israelites did what the Lord commanded. They sent out of the camp those who were “unclean.” They did just as the Lord had directed Moses.
Sins Against Others Must Be Paid For
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Speak to the Israelites. Say to them, ‘Suppose a man or woman does something wrong to someone else. Then that person is not being faithful to the Lord. People like that are guilty. 7 They must admit they have committed a sin. They must pay in full for what they did wrong. And they must add a fifth of the value to it. Then they must give all of it to the person they have sinned against. 8 But suppose that person has died. And suppose that person does not have a close relative who can be paid for the sin that was committed. Then what is paid belongs to the Lord. It must be given to the priest. A ram must be given along with it. The ram must be sacrificed to the Lord to pay for the sin. 9 All the sacred gifts the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. 10 Sacred gifts belong to their owners. But what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.’ ”
The Test for an Unfaithful Wife
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses again. He said, 12 “Speak to the Israelites. Say to them, ‘Suppose a man’s wife goes astray. And suppose she is not faithful to her husband. 13 Suppose another man has sex with her. And suppose this is hidden from her husband. No one knows she is not “clean.” So there is no witness against her. And she has not been caught in the act. 14 Suppose her husband becomes jealous. He does not trust his wife, and she is really “unclean.” Or suppose he does not trust her even though she is “clean.” 15 Then he must take his wife to the priest. He must also bring an offering. It must be eight cups of barley flour. The offering is for his wife. He must not pour olive oil on it. And he must not put incense on it. It is a grain offering for being jealous. It calls attention to the wrong thing a person has done.
16 “ ‘The priest must have her stand in front of the Lord. 17 He must pour some holy water into a clay jar. He must get some dust from the floor of the holy tent. And he must put it into the water. 18 The priest must have the woman stand in front of the Lord. Then he must untie her hair. He must place in her hands the offering that calls attention to the wrong thing a person has done. It is the grain offering for being jealous. The priest must keep the bitter water with him. It is the water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest must have the woman give her word. He must say to her, “Suppose no other man has had sex with you. And suppose you haven’t gone astray. You have kept yourself pure while you are married to your husband. Then may the bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20 But suppose you have gone astray while you are married to your husband. You have made yourself ‘unclean.’ You have had sex with a man who isn’t your husband.” 21 At that point the priest must put the woman under the curse that will come if she breaks her word. He must say, “May the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people. You will become a curse when the Lord makes your body unable to have children. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body. May it make your body unable to have children.”
“ ‘Then the woman must say, “Amen. Let it happen.”
23 “ ‘The priest must write the curses on a scroll. He must wash them off in the bitter water. 24 It is the water he will make the woman drink. It is bitter water that brings a curse. It will enter her body. And it will cause her to suffer bitterly. 25 The priest must take from her hands the grain offering for being jealous. He must lift it up and wave it in front of the Lord. He must bring it to the altar. 26 Then the priest must take a handful of the grain offering. It is the offering that calls attention to the wrong thing a person has done. The priest must burn it on the altar. After that, he must have the woman drink the water. 27 Suppose she has made herself “unclean.” She has not been faithful to her husband. And she has drunk the water that brings a curse. Then it will go into her body. It will cause her to suffer bitterly. It will make her body unable to have children. She will become a curse. 28 Suppose the woman has not made herself “unclean.” But suppose she is “clean.” Then she will be free of guilt. And she will be able to have children.
29 “ ‘This is the law about being jealous. It applies to a woman who has gone astray. She has made herself “unclean” while she is married to her husband. 30 And it applies to a man who becomes jealous. He has doubts about his wife. The priest must have her stand in front of the Lord. He must apply the entire law to her. 31 The husband will not be guilty of doing anything wrong. But the woman will be punished for her sin.’ ”
Nombres 5
La Bible du Semeur
Nombres 5
La Bible du Semeur
Lois rituelles diverses
Les personnes en état d’impureté
5 L’Eternel parla à Moïse et dit : 2 Ordonne aux Israélites de renvoyer du camp tous ceux qui ont une maladie de peau à caractère évolutif ou une gonorrhée, ainsi que tous ceux qui se sont rendus rituellement impurs par le contact d’un cadavre. 3 Vous renverrez les hommes comme les femmes et vous les reléguerez à l’extérieur du camp pour qu’ils ne rendent pas impur leur camp au milieu duquel j’habite[a].
4 Les Israélites obéirent, et renvoyèrent ces gens à l’extérieur du camp, comme l’Eternel l’avait ordonné à Moïse.
La réparation pour une faute commise envers un tiers
5 L’Eternel parla à Moïse en ces termes[b] : 6 Dis aux Israélites : Si un homme ou une femme cause du tort à quelqu’un d’autre, il se rend infidèle à l’égard de l’Eternel et doit être tenu pour coupable. 7 Il avouera le péché qu’il a commis et restituera à la personne à qui il a causé du tort ce dont il l’a lésé en y ajoutant un cinquième de sa valeur. 8 Si la personne lésée est décédée et n’a pas d’héritier pour recevoir réparation, tout ceci sera donné à l’Eternel, c’est-à-dire au prêtre, en plus du bélier expiatoire par lequel le prêtre accomplira le rite d’expiation pour le coupable. 9 Tout don spécial prélevé sur les choses saintes que les Israélites présenteront au prêtre, appartiendra à celui-ci. 10 Chaque prêtre pourra disposer des choses saintes qu’on lui donnera : elles lui appartiennent[c].
La femme soupçonnée d’infidélité
11 L’Eternel parla à Moïse en ces termes : 12 Dis aux Israélites : Voici ce que vous ferez si une femme trompe son mari et lui est infidèle ; 13 si un autre homme a couché avec elle sans que son mari en ait la certitude parce que cela s’est fait en cachette, et qu’il n’y a aucun témoin pour déposer contre elle et sans qu’elle ait été surprise en flagrant délit. 14 Lorsque la jalousie s’emparera de son mari et qu’il soupçonne sa femme – qu’elle se soit effectivement rendue impure ou non – 15 il la fera comparaître devant le prêtre et présentera pour elle trois kilogrammes de farine d’orge en offrande ; il n’y versera pas d’huile, et n’y mettra pas d’encens, car c’est une offrande de jalousie, une offrande qui rappelle le souvenir d’une faute. 16 Le prêtre fera approcher la femme et elle se tiendra devant l’Eternel. 17 Il puisera de l’eau consacrée dans un vase de terre cuite, puis il prendra de la poussière sur l’enceinte du tabernacle pour la mettre dans l’eau. 18 Il placera la femme debout devant l’Eternel, lui dénouera la chevelure[d] et lui remettra entre les mains l’offrande rappelant la faute, c’est-à-dire l’offrande de jalousie, mais lui-même gardera en main l’eau amère[e] qui porte la malédiction. 19 Ensuite, il fera prêter serment à la femme en lui disant : « Si un autre homme n’a pas couché avec toi et que tu ne t’es pas rendue impure en trompant ton mari depuis que tu es mariée, alors que cette eau amère qui porte la malédiction ne te fasse encourir aucun châtiment ! 20 Mais si, au contraire, étant mariée, tu as trompé ton mari et si tu t’es rendue impure en partageant la couche d’un autre homme », 21 tu jures de prendre sur toi les imprécations suivantes : « Que l’Eternel te livre à la malédiction et à l’exécration au milieu de ton peuple ! Qu’il fasse dépérir tes cuisses[f] et enfler ton ventre, 22 que ces eaux de malédiction pénétrant en toi produisent cet effet ! » La femme répondra : « Oui, qu’il en soit ainsi ! »
23 Le prêtre mettra ces imprécations par écrit et les dissoudra dans l’eau amère. 24 Puis il fera boire cette eau amère et porteuse de malédiction à la femme et l’eau pénétrera en elle. 25 Le prêtre prendra des mains de la femme l’offrande de jalousie avec laquelle il fera le geste de présentation devant l’Eternel, et l’apportera à l’autel ; 26 il en prendra une pleine poignée comme mémorial, et la fera brûler sur l’autel ; après cela, il fera boire l’eau à la femme. 27 Si elle s’est effectivement rendue impure en étant infidèle à son mari, il arrivera que l’eau porteuse de malédiction pénétrera en elle pour y produire l’amertume : son ventre enflera et sa cuisse dépérira[g], et cette femme sera maudite au milieu de son peuple. 28 Mais si la femme ne s’est pas rendue impure, si elle est vraiment pure, elle n’éprouvera aucun mal et pourra encore avoir des enfants.
29 Telle est la loi concernant la jalousie quand une femme mariée trompe son mari et se rend impure, 30 ou quand la jalousie s’empare d’un homme et qu’il soupçonne sa femme d’infidélité : il la fera comparaître devant l’Eternel, et le prêtre lui appliquera intégralement cette loi. 31 Le mari sera alors tenu pour innocent de la faute et c’est la femme qui en portera la responsabilité.
Footnotes
- 5.3 Voir Lv 13.46.
- 5.5 Pour les v. 5-8, voir Lv 5.20-26.
- 5.10 Autre traduction : les choses saintes de chacun sont à lui, mais ce qu’on donne au prêtre appartient au prêtre.
- 5.18 En signe d’humiliation (cf. les gestes de deuil, Lv 10.6).
- 5.18 L’eau consacrée additionnée de poussière et servant à découvrir le coupable.
- 5.21 Certains traduisent : te rende stérile.
- 5.27 Certains traduisent : elle deviendra stérile.
Numbers 5
New International Version
Numbers 5
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.’”
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
New International Reader's Version (NIRV) 
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La Bible du Semeur (BDS)
La Bible Du Semeur (The Bible of the Sower) Copyright © 1992, 1999 by Biblica, Inc.®
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New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.