< Numbers 5 >
And the Lord said to Moses,
2 “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.
Give orders to the children of Israel to put outside the tent-circle every leper, and anyone who has any sort of flow from his body, and anyone who is unclean from the touch of the dead;
3 Whether male or female, you must expel them so they won't make their camp unclean, for that is where I live with them.”
Male or female they are to be put outside the tent-circle, so that they may not make unclean my resting-place among them.
4 The Israelites followed these instructions, and expelled such people from the camp. They did what the Lord had told Moses they should do.
So the children of Israel did as the Lord had said to Moses, and put them outside the tent-circle.
And the Lord said to Moses,
6 “Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning against someone else, they are guilty
Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman does any of the sins of men, going against the word of the Lord, and is in the wrong;
7 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.
Let them say openly what they have done; and make payment for the wrong done, with the addition of a fifth part, and give it to him to whom the wrong was done.
8 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.
But if the man has no relation to whom the payment may be made, then the payment for sin made to the Lord will be the priest's, in addition to the sheep offered to take away his sin.
9 All holy offerings that the Israelites bring to the priest belong to him.
And every offering lifted up of all the holy things which the children of Israel give to the priest, will be his.
10 Your holy offerings belong to you, but once you give them to the priest they belong to him.”
And every man's holy things will be his: whatever a man gives to the priest will be his.
And the Lord said to Moses,
12 “Tell the Israelites that these are the instructions to follow if a man's wife has an affair, being unfaithful to him
Say to the children of Israel, If any man's wife does wrong, sinning against him
13 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.
By taking as her lover another man, and keeps it secret so that her husband has no knowledge of it, and there is no witness against her, and she is not taken in the act;
14 But if her husband becomes jealous and suspicious of his wife, whether she's guilty or not,
If the spirit of doubt comes into her husband's heart, and he has doubts of his wife, with good cause; or if he has doubts of her without cause:
15 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.
Then let him take her to the priest, offering for her the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal, without oil or perfume; for it is a meal offering of a bitter spirit, a meal offering keeping wrongdoing in mind.
16 The priest is to lead the wife forward and have her stand before the Lord.
And the priest will make her come near and put her before the Lord;
17 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.
And the priest will take holy water in a pot and put in it dust from the floor of the House;
18 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.
And he will make the woman come before the Lord with her hair loose, and will put the meal offering, the offering of a bitter spirit, in her hands; and the priest will take in his hand the bitter water causing the curse;
19 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.
And he will make her take an oath, and say to her, If no man has been your lover and you have not been with another in place of your husband, you are free from this bitter water causing the curse;
20 But if you have been unfaithful while married to your husband and have become unclean and have had sex with someone else…”
But if you have been with another in place of your husband and have made yourself unclean with a lover:
21 (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.
Then the priest will put the oath of the curse on the woman, and say to her, May the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, sending on you wasting of the legs and disease of the stomach;
22 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.”
And this water of the curse will go into your body, causing disease of your stomach and wasting of your legs: and the woman will say, So be it.
23 The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.
And the priest will put these curses in a book, washing out the writing with the bitter water;
24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that curses, and it will cause her bitter pain if she is guilty.
And he will give to the woman the bitter water for drink; and the bitter water causing the curse will go into her.
25 The priest shall take back from her the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord, and take it to the altar.
And the priest will take from her hand the meal offering of doubt, waving it before the Lord, and will take it to the altar;
26 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.
And he will take some of it in his hand, burning it on the altar as a sign, and then he will give the woman the bitter water.
27 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.
And it will be that if the woman has become unclean, sinning against her husband, when she has taken the bitter water it will go into her body, causing disease of the stomach and wasting of the legs, and she will be a curse among her people.
28 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.
But if she is clean she will be free and will have offspring.
29 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,
This is the law for testing a wife who goes with another in place of her husband and becomes unclean;
30 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.
Or for a husband who, in a bitter spirit, has doubts in his heart about his wife; let him take her to the priest, who will put in force this law.
31 If she is found guilty, her husband will not be held responsible. But the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.
Then the man will be free from all wrong, and the woman's sin will be on her.