Numbers 5
1 The Lord told Moses,
Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
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.
“Command the people of Israel to send away from the camp everyone with an infectious skin disease, and everyone who has an oozing sore, and whoever is unclean through touching a dead body.
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.”
Whether male or female, you must send them out of the camp. They must not defile the camp, because I live in it.”
4 The Israelites followed these instructions, and expelled such people from the camp. They did what the Lord had told Moses they should do.
The people of Israel did so. They sent them out of the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. The people of Israel obeyed Yahweh.
5 The Lord told Moses,
Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
6 “Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning against someone else, they are guilty
“Speak to the people of Israel. When a man or woman commits any sin such as people do to one another, and is unfaithful to me, that person is guilty.
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.
Then he must confess the sin that he has done. He must completely pay back the price of his guilt and add to the price one-fifth more. He must give this to the one he has wronged.
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 wronged person has no close relative to receive the payment, he must pay the price for his guilt to me through a priest, along with a ram to atone for himself.
9 All holy offerings that the Israelites bring to the priest belong to him.
Every offering of the people of Israel, the things that are set aside and brought to the priest by the people of Israel, will belong to him.
10 Your holy offerings belong to you, but once you give them to the priest they belong to him.”
The offerings of every person will be for the priest; if anyone gives anything to the priest, it will belong to him.”
11 The Lord told Moses,
Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
12 “Tell the Israelites that these are the instructions to follow if a man's wife has an affair, being unfaithful to him
“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose that a man's wife turns away and sins against her husband.
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.
Then suppose that another man sleeps with her. In that case, she is defiled. Even if her husband does not see it or know about it, and even if no one catches her in the act and there is no one to testify against her,
14 But if her husband becomes jealous and suspicious of his wife, whether she's guilty or not,
nevertheless, a spirit of jealousy might still inform the husband that his wife is defiled. However, a spirit of jealousy might falsely come on a man when his wife is not defiled.
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.
In such cases, the man must bring his wife to the priest. The husband must take an offering required on her behalf, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He must pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembering, as a reminder of the iniquity.
16 The priest is to lead the wife forward and have her stand before the Lord.
The priest must bring her near and place her before Yahweh.
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.
The priest must take a jar of holy water and take dust from the floor of the tabernacle. He must put the dust into the water.
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.
The priest will set the woman before Yahweh and he will untie the hair on the woman's head. He will put into her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that can bring a 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.
The priest will put the woman under an oath and say to her, 'If no other man had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and committed impurity, then you will be free from this bitter water that can bring a 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, a woman under her husband, have gone astray, if you are defiled, and if some other man has slept with you,
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 must cause the woman to swear an oath that can bring down a curse on her, and then he must continue speaking to the woman) 'Yahweh will make you into a curse that will be shown to your people to be such. This will happen if Yahweh causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell.
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.”
This water that brings the curse will go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thighs waste away.' The woman is to reply, 'Yes, let that happen if I am guilty.'
23 The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.
The priest must write these curses on a scroll, and then he must wash away the written curses into 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.
The priest must make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse. The water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter.
25 The priest shall take back from her the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord, and take it to the altar.
The priest must take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand. He must hold up the grain offering before Yahweh and bring 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.
The priest must take a handful of the grain offering as a representative offering, and burn it on the altar. Then he must give the woman the bitter water to drink.
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.
When he gives her the water to drink, if she is defiled because she has committed a sin against her husband, then the water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter. Her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away. The woman will be cursed 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 the woman is not defiled and if she is clean, then she must be free. She will be able to conceive children.
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 of jealousy. It is the law for a woman who strays away from her husband and is defiled.
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.
It is the law for a man with a spirit of jealousy when he is jealous of his wife. He must bring the woman before Yahweh, and the priest must do to her everything that this law of jealousy describes.
31 If she is found guilty, her husband will not be held responsible. But the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.
The man will be free from guilt for bringing his wife to the priest. The woman must bear any guilt she might have.”
