Old/New Testament
Chapter 5
The Unclean Expelled. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Order the Israelites to expel from camp everyone with a scaly infection, and everyone suffering from a discharge, and everyone who has become unclean by contact with a corpse.[a](A) 3 Male and female alike, you shall expel them. You shall expel them from the camp so that they do not defile their camp, where I dwell in their midst.(B) 4 This the Israelites did, expelling them from the camp; just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.
Unjust Possession.[b] 5 The Lord said to Moses: 6 (C)Tell the Israelites: If a man or a woman commits any offense against another person, thus breaking faith with the Lord, and thereby becomes guilty, 7 that person shall confess the wrong that has been done, make restitution in full, and in addition give one fifth of its value to the one that has been wronged. 8 However, if there is no next of kin,[c] one to whom restitution can be made, the restitution shall be made to the Lord and shall fall to the priest; this is apart from the ram of atonement with which the priest makes atonement for the guilty individual. 9 Likewise, every contribution among the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the priest will belong to him.(D) 10 Each shall possess his own sacred offerings; what is given to a priest shall be his.(E)
Ordeal for Suspected Adultery. 11 The Lord said to Moses: 12 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If a man’s wife goes astray and becomes unfaithful to him 13 by virtue of a man having intercourse with her(F) in secret from her husband and she is able to conceal the fact that she has defiled herself for lack of a witness who might have caught her in the act; 14 or if a man is overcome by a feeling of jealousy that makes him suspect his wife, and she has defiled herself; or if a man is overcome by a feeling of jealousy that makes him suspect his wife and she has not defiled herself— 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest as well as an offering on her behalf, a tenth of an ephah[d] of barley meal. However, he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense over it, since it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.
16 The priest shall first have the woman come forward and stand before the Lord. 17 In an earthen vessel he shall take holy water,[e] as well as some dust from the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.(G) 18 Making the woman stand before the Lord, the priest shall uncover her head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, that is, the grain offering of jealousy, while he himself shall hold the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall adjure the woman, saying to her, “If no other man has had intercourse with you, and you have not gone astray by defiling yourself while under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you”— 21 so shall the priest adjure the woman with this imprecation—“may the Lord make you a curse and malediction[f] among your people by causing your uterus to fall and your belly to swell! 22 May this water, then, that brings a curse, enter your bowels to make your belly swell and your uterus fall!”(H) And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”[g] 23 The priest shall put these curses in writing and shall then wash them off into the water of bitterness, 24 and he will have the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water that brings a curse may enter into her to her bitter hurt. 25 But first the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and having elevated the grain offering before the Lord, shall bring it to the altar, 26 where he shall take a handful of the grain offering as a token offering and burn it on the altar.(I) Only then shall he have the woman drink the water. 27 Once he has had her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter into her to her bitter hurt, and her belly will swell and her uterus will fall, so that she will become a curse among her people. 28 If, however, the woman has not defiled herself, but is still pure, she will be immune and will still be fertile.
29 This, then, is the ritual for jealousy when a woman goes astray while under the authority of her husband and defiles herself, 30 or when such a feeling of jealousy comes over a man that he becomes suspicious of his wife; he shall have her stand before the Lord, and the priest shall perform this entire ritual for her. 31 The man shall be free from punishment,[h] but the woman shall bear her punishment.
Chapter 6
Laws Concerning Nazirites. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When men or women solemnly take the nazirite[i] vow to dedicate themselves to the Lord, 3 they shall abstain from wine and strong drink;(J) they may neither drink wine vinegar, other vinegar, or any kind of grape juice, nor eat either fresh or dried grapes. 4 As long as they are nazirites they shall not eat anything of the produce of the grapevine; not even the seeds or the skins. 5 While they are under the nazirite vow, no razor shall touch their hair.(K) Until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over, they shall be holy, letting the hair of their heads grow freely. 6 As long as they are dedicated to the Lord, they shall not come near a dead person.(L) 7 Not even for their father or mother, sister or brother, should they defile themselves, when these die, since their heads bear their dedication to God. 8 As long as they are nazirites they are holy to the Lord.
9 If someone dies very suddenly in their presence, defiling their dedicated heads, they shall shave their heads on the day of their purification, that is, on the seventh day. 10 On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11 The priest shall offer up the one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, thus making atonement for them for the sin they committed with respect to the corpse. On the same day they shall reconsecrate their heads 12 and rededicate themselves to the Lord for the period of their dedication, bringing a yearling lamb as a reparation offering. The previous period is not valid, because they defiled their dedicated heads.
13 This is the ritual for the nazirites:(M) When the period of their dedication is complete they shall go to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 bringing their offerings to the Lord, one unblemished yearling lamb for a burnt offering, one unblemished yearling ewe lamb for a purification offering, one unblemished ram as a communion offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened cakes of bran flour mixed with oil and of unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offerings and libations. 16 The priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer up the purification offering and the burnt offering for them. 17 He shall then offer up the ram as a communion sacrifice to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened cakes, and the priest will offer the grain offering and libation. 18 Then at the entrance of the tent of meeting the nazirite shall shave his or her dedicated head, take the hair of the dedicated head, and put it in the fire under the communion sacrifice. 19 After the nazirite has shaved off the dedicated hair, the priest shall take a boiled shoulder of the ram, as well as one unleavened cake from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them in the hands of the nazirite. 20 The priest shall then elevate them as an elevated offering before the Lord. They are an offering belonging to the priest, along with the brisket of the elevated offering and the leg of the contribution. Only after this may the nazirite drink wine.
21 This, then, is the law for the nazirites, that is, what they vow as their offering to the Lord in accord with their dedication, apart from anything else which their means may allow. In keeping with the vow they take so shall they do, according to the law of their dedication.
The Priestly Blessing. 22 The Lord said to Moses: 23 Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you!
25 The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
26 The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace![j]
27 So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Chapter 4
The Parable of the Sower. 1 [a]On another occasion(A) he began to teach by the sea.[b] A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.(B) 2 And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 3 [c]“Hear this! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. 8 And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables. 10 And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. 11 [d]He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, 12 so that
‘they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.’”(C)
13 [e]Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?(D) Then how will you understand any of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. 17 But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, 19 but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. 20 But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.