Numbers 5

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 Command the children of Israel, that they cast out of the camp every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the dead:

“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.

3 Whether it be man or woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest they defile it when I shall dwell with you.

You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

4 And the children of Israel did so, and they cast them forth without the camp, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

So the Israelites did this, sending such people outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

And the LORD said to Moses,

6 Say to the children of Israel: When a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and offended,

“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty

7 They shall confess their sin, and restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over and above, to him against whom they have sinned.

and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution, add a fifth to its value, and give all this to the one he has wronged.

8 But if there be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s, besides the ram that is offered for expiation, to be an atoning sacrifice.

But if the man has no 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 of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.

9 All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong to the priest:

Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him.

10 And whatsoever is offered into the sanctuary by every one, and is delivered into the hands of the priest, it shall be his.

Each man’s sacred gifts are his own, but whatever he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.”

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then the LORD said to Moses,

12 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband,

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him

13 Shall have slept with another man, and her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not found in the adultery:

by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act),

14 If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife, who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,

and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself—

15 He shall bring her to the priest, and shall offer an oblation for her, the tenth part of a measure of barley meal: he shall not pour oil thereon, nor put frankincense upon it: because it is a sacrifice of jealousy, and an oblation searching out adultery.

then he is to bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity.

16 The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.

The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD.

17 And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it.

Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

18 And when the woman shall stand before the Lord, he shall uncover her head, and shall, put on her hands the sacrifice of remembrance, and the oblation of jealousy: and he himself shall hold the most bitter waters, whereon he hath heaped curses with execration.

After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.

19 And he shall adjure her, and shall say: If another man hath not slept with thee, and if thou be not defiled by forsaking thy husband’s bed, these most bitter waters, on which I have heaped curses, shall not hurt thee.

And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse.

20 But if thou hast gone aside from thy husband, and art defiled, and hast lain with another man:

But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’—

21 These curses shall light upon thee: The Lord make thee a curse, and an example for all among his people: may he make thy thigh to rot, and may thy belly swell and burst asunder.

and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

22 Let the cursed waters enter into thy belly, and may thy womb swell and thy thigh rot. And the woman shall answer, Amen, amen.

May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall wash them out with the most bitter waters, upon which he hath heaped the curses,

And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.

24 And he shall give them her to drink. And when she hath drunk them up,

He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering.

25 The priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and shall elevate it before the Lord, and shall put it upon the altar: yet so as first,

The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

26 To take a handful of the sacrifice of that which is offered, and burn it upon the altar: and so give the most bitter waters to the woman to drink.

Then the priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar; after that he is to have the woman drink the water.

27 And when she hath drunk them, if she be defiled, and having despised her husband be guilty of adultery, the malediction shall go through her, and her belly swelling, her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse, and an example to all the people.

When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

28 But if she be not defiled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear children.

But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be unaffected and able to conceive children.

29 This is the law of jealousy. If a woman hath gone aside from her husband, and be defiled,

This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

30 And the husband stirred up by the spirit of jealousy bring her before the Lord, and the priest do to her according to all things that are here written:

or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law.

31 The husband shall be blameless, and she shall bear her iniquity.

The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”