Numbers 5
Living Bible
5 1-2 These are further instructions from the Lord to Moses: “Inform the people of Israel that they must expel all lepers from the camp, and all who have open sores, or who have been defiled by touching a dead person. 3 This applies to men and women alike. Remove them so that they will not defile the camp where I live among you.” 4 These instructions were put into effect.
5-6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that when anyone, man or woman, betrays the Lord by betraying a trust, it is sin. 7 He must confess his sin and make full repayment for what he has stolen,[a] adding 20 percent and returning it to the person he took it from. 8 But if the person he wronged is dead,[b] and there is no near relative to whom the payment can be made, it must be given to the priest, along with a lamb for atonement. 9-10 When the people of Israel bring a gift to the Lord it shall go to the priests.”
11-12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that if a man’s wife commits adultery, 13 but there is no proof, there being no witness, 14 and he is jealous and suspicious, 15 the man shall bring his wife to the priest with an offering for her of a tenth of a bushel of barley meal without oil or frankincense mingled with it—for it is a suspicion offering—to bring out the truth[c] as to whether or not she is guilty.
16 “The priest shall bring her before the Lord, 17 and take holy water in a clay jar and mix into it dust from the floor of the Tabernacle. 18 He shall unbind her hair and place the suspicion offering in her hands to determine whether or not her husband’s suspicions are justified. The priest shall stand before her holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse. 19 He shall require her to swear that she is innocent, and then he shall say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you except your husband, be free from the effects of this bitter water that causes the curse. 20 But if you have committed adultery, 21-22 then Jehovah shall make you a curse among your people, for he will make your thigh rot away and your body swell.’ And the woman shall be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’ 23 Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 (When he requires the woman to drink the water, it becomes bitter within her if she is guilty.[d])
25 “Then the priest shall take the suspicion offering from the woman’s hand and wave it before Jehovah, and carry it to the altar. 26 He shall take a handful, representing all of it, and burn the handful upon the altar, and then require the woman to drink the water. 27 If she has been defiled, having committed adultery against her husband, the water will become bitter within her, and her body will swell and her thigh will rot, and she shall be a curse among her people. 28 But if she is pure and has not committed adultery, she shall be unharmed and will soon become pregnant.
29 “This, then, is the law concerning a wayward wife—or a husband’s suspicions against his wife— 30 to determine whether or not she has been unfaithful to him. He shall bring her before the Lord and the priest shall handle the situation as outlined above. 31 Her husband shall not be brought to trial for causing her horrible disease, for she is responsible.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:7 for what he has stolen, literally, “for his wrong.”
- Numbers 5:8 But if the person he wronged is dead, implied.
- Numbers 5:15 a suspicion offering—to bring out the truth, literally, “an offering of remembrance.”
- Numbers 5:24 if she is guilty, implied.
Numbers 5
Wycliffe Bible
5 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
2 Command thou to the sons of Israel, that they cast out of the tents each leprous man, and that floweth out the seed, and that is defouled upon a dead body; (Command thou to the Israelites, that they throw out of the tents, that is, out of the camp, any person who is leprous, and he who floweth out the seed, and anyone who is defiled by contact with a dead body;)
3 cast ye out of the tents, as well a male as a female, lest they defoul those, when they dwell with you. (throw ye out of the camp, a female as well as a male, lest they defile all the tents, where I live among you.)
4 And the sons of Israel did so (And the Israelites did so); and they putted them out of the tents, as the Lord spake to Moses.
5 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
6 Speak thou to the sons of Israel (Say thou to the Israelites), When a man either a woman hath done any of all (of) the sins that be wont to fall to men, and have broken by negligence the behest of the Lord, and have trespassed,
7 they shall acknowledge their sin, and they shall yield that head, or debt, and (add) the fifth part above (it), (and give it) to him against whom they (have) sinned.
8 But if none there is that shall receive that, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s part, besides the ram that is offered for cleansing, that it be a quemeful sacrifice. (But if there is no one who can receive that payment, then they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s portion, besides the ram for making amends, which is offered to make amends for them.)
9 Also all the first fruits, which the sons of Israel offer (which the Israelites offer), pertain to the priest;
10 and whatever thing is offered of each man in the saintuary, which a man hallowed, and gave to the hands of the priest, it shall be the priest’s part. (and whatever thing is offered by anyone in the sanctuary, which a person hath dedicated, and put into the hands of the priest, it shall be the priest’s portion.)
11 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
12 Speak thou to the sons of Israel (Speak thou to the Israelites), and thou shalt say to them, If a man’s wife hath erred, and hath despised her husband,
13 and hath slept with another man, and the husband may not take, either prove this, but the adultery is hid, and may not be proved by witnesses, for she is not found in lechery; (and hath slept with another man, but her husband cannot prove it, for the adultery is hidden, or is done in secret, and so cannot be proved by witnesses, for she was not found in lechery;)
14 (or) if the spirit of jealousy stirreth the husband against his wife, which is either defouled, either she is impeached by false suspicion, (or if the spirit of jealousy stirreth a husband against his wife, and she is either truly defiled, or is impeached by false suspicion,)
15 the man shall bring her to the priest, and he shall offer an offering for her, the tenth part of a measure called (a) saton of barley meal; he shall not pour oil thereupon, neither he shall put incense thereto, for it is the sacrifice of jealousy, and an offering inquiring (about) adultery. (the husband shall bring her to the priest, and he shall offer an offering for her, the tenth of a measure called a seah of barley meal, that is, the tenth of an ephah; he shall not pour oil on it, nor shall he put incense on it, for it is an offering for jealousy, and an offering to inquire about adultery.)
16 Therefore the priest shall offer her, and shall set her before the Lord; (And so the priest shall bring her forth, and shall put her before the Lord;)
17 and he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall put into it a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle. (and he shall pour some holy water into an earthen, or a clay, vessel, and he shall put into it a little dust, or a little dirt, from the floor of the Tabernacle, to make the water bitter.)
18 And when the woman standeth in the sight of the Lord, the priest shall uncover her head, and he shall put upon her hands the sacrifice of remembering, and the offering of jealousy. Soothly he shall hold (in his hand) the most bitter waters, in which he hath gathered together curses with cursing. (And when the woman standeth before the Lord, the priest shall uncover her head, and he shall put in her hands the offering of remembrance, which is the offering for jealousy. And he shall hold in his hand this most bitter water, into which he shall gather together curses.)
19 And he shall conjure her, and say, If an alien man slept not with thee, and if thou art not defouled in forsaking the bed of thine husband, these bitter waters shall not harm thee, into which I have gathered together curses; (And he shall adjure her, and say, If thou hath not slept with a stranger, and if thou art not defiled by forsaking thy husband’s bed, then this most bitter water, into which I shall gather together curses, shall not harm thee;)
20 else if thou bowedest away from thine husband, and art defouled, and hast lain with another man, (but if thou hast turned away from thy husband, and art defiled, and hast lain with another man,)
21 thou shalt be subject to these cursings; the Lord give thee into cursing, and into ensample of all men in his people; the Lord make thine hip to wax rotten, and thy womb (to) swell, and be it broken; (then thou shalt be subject to these curses; yea, let the Lord make thee a curse, and an example to all among his people; and may the Lord make thy hip to grow rotten, and thy womb to swell, and let it be broken;)
22 (yea, let) these cursed waters enter into thy womb, and while thy womb swelleth, thine hip wax rotten. And the woman shall answer, Amen! amen!
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a little book, and he shall do away those curses with the bitterest waters (and then he shall wash them off into this most bitter water),
24 into which he gathered (those) curses, and he shall give to her the waters to drink. And when she hath drunk those waters, (into which he shall gather together these curses, and then he shall give her this water to drink. And when she hath drunk the water,)
25 the priest shall take (out) of her hand the sacrifice of jealousy (the priest shall take from her hand the offering for jealousy), and he shall raise it [up] before the Lord, and he shall put it on the altar;
26 so only that he take before an handful of that sacrifice that is offered, and burn it upon the altar, and so give (for to) drink to the woman the most bitter waters. (so only that first he take a handful of the offering that is offered, and burn it on the altar, and then afterward give the woman this most bitter water to drink.)
27 And when she hath drunk those waters, if she is defouled, and is guilty of adultery, for her husband is despised of her (for her husband was despised by her), the waters of cursing shall pass through her, and while her womb is swollen, her hip shall wax rotten, and the woman shall be into cursing and into ensample to all the people.
28 That if she is not defouled, she shall be harmless, and shall bring forth free children. (But if she is not defiled, she shall be without harm, and shall bring forth children.)
29 This is the law of jealousy, if a woman boweth away from her husband, and is defouled, (This is the law of jealousy, when a woman turneth away from her husband, and is defiled,)
30 and the husband is stirred with the spirit of jealousy, and bringeth her into the sight of the Lord, and the priest doeth to her by all things that be written (here), (or when her husband is stirred with the spirit of jealousy, or of suspicion, and he bringeth her before the Lord, and the priest doeth to her by all the things that be written here;)
31 the husband shall be without sin, and she shall receive her wickedness. (then the husband shall be without sin, and she, if guilty, shall bear her wickedness.)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
2001 by Terence P. Noble