Numbers 5
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
2 Charge the children of Israel, and let them send forth out of the camp every leper, and every one who has in issue of the reins, and every one who is unclean from a dead body.
“Order the Israelites to expel from the camp anyone who has a skin disease, or who has a discharge, or who is unclean from touching a dead body.
3 Whether male or female, send them forth out of the camp; and they shall not defile their camps in which I dwell amongst them.
Whether male or female, you must expel them so they won't make their camp unclean, for that is where I live with them.”
4 And the children of Israel did so, and sent them out of the camp: as the Lord said to Moses, so did the children of Israel.
The Israelites followed these instructions, and expelled such people from the camp. They did what the Lord had told Moses they should do.
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
6 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Every man or woman who shall commit any sin that is common to man, or if that soul shall in anyway have neglected the commandment and transgressed;
“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning against someone else, they are guilty
7 [that person] shall confess the sin which he has committed, and shall make satisfaction for his trespass: he [shall pay] the principal, and shall add to it the fifth part, and shall make restoration to him against whom he has trespassed.
and must confess their sin. They have to pay the full amount of compensation plus one fifth of its value, and give this to the person they have wronged.
8 But if a man have no near kinsman, so as to make satisfaction for his trespass to him, the trespass-offering paid to the Lord shall be for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which he shall make atonement with it for him.
However, if that person doesn't have a relative who can be paid the compensation, it belongs to the Lord and shall be given to the priest, together with a sacrificial ram by which the guilty person is set right.
9 And every first fruits in all the sanctified things amongst the children of Israel, whatever they shall offer to the Lord, shall be for the priest himself.
All holy offerings that the Israelites bring to the priest belong to him.
10 And the hallowed things of every man shall be his; and whatever man shall give [any thing] to the priest, the gift shall be his.
Your holy offerings belong to you, but once you give them to the priest they belong to him.”
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
12 Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, Whosesoever wife shall transgress against him, and slight and despise him,
“Tell the Israelites that these are the instructions to follow if a man's wife has an affair, being unfaithful to him
13 and [supposing] any one shall lie with her carnally, and the thing shall be hid from the eyes of her husband, and she should conceal it and be herself defiled, and there be no witness with her, and she should not be taken;
by sleeping with someone else. It may be that her husband doesn't find out and her unclean act wasn't witnessed—she wasn't caught out.
14 and there should come upon him a spirit of jealousy, and he should be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; or there should come upon him a spirit of jealousy, and he should be jealous of his wife, and she should not be defiled;
But if her husband becomes jealous and suspicious of his wife, whether she's guilty or not,
15 then shall the man bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring his gift for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley-meal: he shall not pour oil upon it, neither shall he put frankincense upon it; for it is a sacrifice of jealousy, a sacrifice of memorial, recalling sin to remembrance.
he is to take her before the priest. He is also to take with him on her behalf an offering of one tenth of an ephath of barley flour. He must also bring for her an offering of an ephah of barley flour. He's not to pour olive oil over it or put frankincense on it, since it's a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder offering to remind people about sin.
16 And the priest shall bring her, and cause her to stand before the Lord.
The priest is to lead the wife forward and have her stand before the Lord.
17 And the priest shall take pure running water in an earthen vessel, and he shall take of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle of witness, and the priest having taken it shall cast it into the water.
Then he shall fill a clay jar with holy water in a clay jar and sprinkle on it some dust from the floor of the Tabernacle.
18 And the priest shall cause the woman to stand before the Lord, and shall uncover the head of the woman, and shall put into her hands the sacrifice of memorial, the sacrifice of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest shall be the water of this conviction that brings the curse.
Once the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall let her hair loose and have her hold the reminder grain offering—the grain offering used in cases of jealousy. The priest shall hold the bitter water that curses.
19 And the priest shall adjure her, and shall say to the woman, If no one has lain with you, and if you have not transgressed so as to be polluted, being under the power of your husband, be free from this water of the conviction that causes the curse.
He shall place the woman under oath and tell her, ‘If no one else has slept with you and you have not been unfaithful and become unclean while married to your husband, may you not be harmed by this bitter water that curses.
20 But if being a married woman you have transgressed, or been polluted, and any one has lain with you, beside your husband:
But if you have been unfaithful while married to your husband and have become unclean and have had sex with someone else…”
21 then the priest shall adjure the woman by the oaths of this curse, and the priest shall say to the woman, The Lord bring you into a curse and under an oath in the midst of your people, in that the Lord should cause your thigh to rot and your belly to swell;
(Here the priest shall place the woman under the oath of the curse as follows.) “May the Lord place a curse on you that everyone knows about by having your thighs shrink and your belly swell up.
22 and this water bringing the curse shall enter into your womb to cause your belly to swell, and your thigh to rot. And the woman shall say, So be it, So be it.
May this water that curses go into your stomach and make your belly swell up and your thighs shrink.” The woman is to answer, “I agree, I agree.”
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall blot them out with the water of the conviction that brings the curse.
The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.
24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the water of the conviction that brings the curse; and the water of the conviction that brings the curse shall enter into her.
He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that curses, and it will cause her bitter pain if she is guilty.
25 And the priest shall take from the hand of the woman the sacrifice of jealousy, and shall present the sacrifice before the Lord, and shall bring it to the altar.
The priest shall take back from her the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord, and take it to the altar.
26 And the priest shall take a handful of the sacrifice as a memorial of it, and shall offer it up upon the altar; and afterwards he shall cause the woman to drink the water.
Then the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as a reminder portion and burn it on the altar, and make the woman drink the water.
27 And it shall come to pass, if she be defiled, and have altogether escaped the notice of her husband, then the water of the conviction that brings the curse shall enter into her; and she shall swell in her belly, and her thigh shall rot, and the woman shall be for a curse in the midst of her people.
After he has made her drink the water, if she has made herself unclean and has been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that curses will cause her bitter pain. Her belly will swell up and her thighs will shrink. She will become a cursed woman among her people.
28 But if the woman have not been polluted, and be clean, then shall she be guiltless and shall conceive seed.
But if the woman has not made herself unclean by being unfaithful and is clean, she will not experience this punishment and she will still be able to have children.
29 This is the law of jealousy, wherein a married woman should happen to transgress, and be defiled;
This is the rule to follow in cases of jealousy when a wife has an affair and makes herself unclean while married to her husband,
30 or in the case of a man on whoever the spirit of jealousy should come, and he should be jealous of his wife, and he should place his wife before the Lord, and the priest shall execute towards her all this law.
or when a husband starts feeling jealous and becomes suspicious of his wife. He shall have his wife stand before the Lord, and the priest is to carry out every part of this rule.
31 Then the man shall be clear from sin, and that woman shall bear her sin.
If she is found guilty, her husband will not be held responsible. But the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.
