Numbers 5

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 “Command the sons of Israel, and they send out of the camp every leper, and everyone with discharging, and everyone defiled by a body;

“Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘You must send away from your (camp/area where you have your tents) any man or woman who has leprosy and anyone who has a discharge [of some fluid from his body], and anyone who has become unacceptable to God because of [having touched] a corpse.

3 you send out from male even to female; you send them to the outside of the camp and they do not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell.”

Send them away from there in order that they will not [touch people in the camp area] where I live among you and cause them to become unacceptable to me.’”

4 And the sons of Israel do so, and they send them out to the outside of the camp; as YHWH has spoken to Moses so the sons of Israel have done.

So [Moses/I told that to the Israeli people, and] the Israeli people obeyed what Yahweh commanded Moses/me.

5 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

Yahweh also told Moses/me,

6 “Speak to the sons of Israel: Man or woman, when they do any of the sins of man, by committing a trespass against YHWH, and that person [is] guilty,

“Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘If someone (commits a crime against/does something wrong to) another person, [I consider that] that person has done wrong to me.

7 and they have confessed their sin which they have done, then he has restored his guilt in its principal, and is adding its fifth to it, and has given [it] to him in reference to whom he has been guilty.

That person must confess that he or she is guilty, and he or she must pay to the person to whom wrong was done [what others consider to be a suitable/proper payment] for what he has done, and he must pay an extra 20 percent.

8 And if the man has no redeemer to restore the guilt to, the guilt which is restored [is] to YHWH for the priest, apart from the ram of the atonements, whereby he makes atonement for him.

If the person against whom the wrong was done [has died and] there is no relative to whom the money can be paid, then the money belongs to me, and it must be paid to the priest. In addition, the one who did the wrong must give a male sheep to the priest [to sacrifice] in order that (that person’s sin may be forgiven/I can forgive that person for his sin).

9 And every raised-offering of all the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they bring near to the priest, becomes his;

All the sacred offerings that the Israelis bring to the priest belong to the priest.

10 and any man’s hallowed things become his; that which any man gives to the priest becomes his.”

The priest can keep those gifts.’”

11 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:

12 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you have said to them: When any man’s wife turns aside, and has committed a trespass against him,

“Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘Suppose a man thinks that his wife has slept with another man,

13 and a man has lain with her [with] the seed [from] intercourse, and it has been hid from the eyes of her husband, and concealed, and she has been defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught,

but neither he nor anyone else knows if it is true or not, because no one saw her doing that.

14 and a spirit of jealousy has passed over him, and he has been jealous [for] his wife, and she has been defiled—or a spirit of jealousy has passed over him, and he has been jealous [for] his wife, and she has not been defiled—

But if the woman’s husband is jealous, and if he suspects that she has committed adultery, and he wants to know whether that is true or not,

15 then the man has brought in his wife to the priest, and he has brought in her offering for her—a tenth of the ephah of barley meal; he does not pour oil on it, nor does he put frankincense on it, for it [is] a present of jealousy, a present of memorial, causing remembrance of iniquity.

he should take his wife to the priest. He must take along as an offering two quarts/liters of barley flour. The priest must not pour [olive] oil or incense on it, because this is an offering that the man has brought because he (is jealous/wants his wife to sleep only with him). It is an offering to find out if she is guilty or not. [Neither olive oil nor incense should be used because are associated with joy and this is not a time for joy.]

16 And the priest has brought her near, and has caused her to stand before YHWH,

The priest must tell the woman to stand [in front of the altar] in my presence.

17 and the priest has taken holy water in an earthen vessel, and the priest takes of the dust which is on the floor of the Dwelling Place, and has put [it] into the water,

He must put some sacred water in a clay jar, and then he must put some dirt from the floor of the Sacred Tent into the water.

18 and the priest has caused the woman to stand before YHWH, and has uncovered the woman’s head, and has given the present of the memorial into her hands (it [is] a present of jealousy), and the bitter waters which cause the curse are in the hand of the priest.

He must untie/unfasten the woman’s hair. Then he must put in her hands the grain that her jealous husband is offering to determine whether she has committed adultery or not. The priest must hold [the bowl that contains] bitter water that will cause (the woman to be cursed/bad things to happen to the woman) [if she is guilty].

19 And the priest has caused her to swear, and has said to the woman, If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside [to] uncleanness under your husband, be free from these bitter waters which cause the curse;

The priest must require her to solemnly declare [that she will tell the truth]. Then he must say to her, “Has another man had sex [EUP] with you? Have you faithfully [slept only with your husband] or not? If you have not slept with another man, nothing bad will happen to you if you drink the water.

20 and you, if you have turned aside under your husband, and if you have been defiled, and a man commits his intercourse with you besides your husband—

But if you have had sex with another man, [Yahweh will curse you].

21 then the priest has caused the woman to swear with an oath of execration, and the priest has said to the woman—YHWH gives you for an execration and for a curse in the midst of your people, in YHWH’s giving your thigh to fall and your belly to swell,

Your womb will shrivel up and your stomach will swell up. You will never be able to give birth to children, and as a result, everyone will curse you and avoid you. If you have committed adultery, [when you drink] this water, that is what will happen to you.” Then the woman must answer, “[If I am guilty], I will not object if that happens.”

22 and these waters which cause the curse have gone into your bowels to cause the belly to swell and the thigh to fall; and the woman has said, Amen, Amen.

23 And the priest has written these execrations in a scroll, and has blotted [them] out with the bitter waters,

‘Then the priest must write [with ink] on a small scroll these (curses/bad things that will happen to her if she is guilty) [and then wash the ink off into the bitter water].

24 and has caused the woman to drink the bitter waters which cause the curse, and the waters which cause the curse have entered into her for bitter things.

The priest must take from her the offering of barley flour [that she is holding], and lift it up to dedicate it to me. Then he must put it on the altar

25 And the priest has taken the present of jealousy out of the hand of the woman, and has waved the present before YHWH, and has brought it near to the altar;

26 and the priest has taken a handful of the present, its memorial, and has made incense on the altar, and afterward causes the woman to drink the water;

and burn part of it as a sacrifice. Then the woman must drink the bitter water.

27 indeed, he has caused her to drink the water, and it has come to pass, if she has been defiled and commits a trespass against her husband, that the waters which cause the curse have gone into her for bitter things, and her belly has swelled, and her thigh has fallen, and the woman has become an execration in the midst of her people.

If the woman has committed adultery, the water will cause her to suffer greatly. Her stomach will swell up and her womb will shrink, [and she will be unable to give birth to children]. And then her (relatives/fellow Israelis) will curse her.

28 And if the woman has not been defiled, and is clean, then she has been acquitted, and has been sown [with] seed.

But if she (is innocent/has not committed adultery), her body will not be harmed, and she will still be able to give birth to children.

29 This [is] the law of jealousies when a wife turns aside under her husband and has been defiled,

‘That is the ritual that must be performed when a woman who is married has been unfaithful to her husband,

30 or when a spirit of jealousy passes over a man and he has been jealous of his wife, then he has caused the woman to stand before YHWH, and the priest has done to her all this law,

or when a man is jealous and suspects that his wife [has had sex with another man]. The priest must tell that woman to stand [at the altar] in my presence and obey these instructions.

31 and the man has been acquitted from iniquity, and that woman bears her iniquity.”

Even if the woman has not done what the husband suspected, he will not be punished [MTY] for doing something wrong [by bringing his wife to the priest]. But if his wife is guilty, she will suffer as a result.’”