Numbers 5
1 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “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.
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:
3 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.’”
Whether it be man or woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest they defile it when I shall dwell with you.
4 So [Moses/I told that to the Israeli people, and] the Israeli people obeyed what Yahweh commanded Moses/me.
And the children of Israel did so, and they cast them forth without the camp, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
5 Yahweh also told Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6 “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.
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,
7 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.
They shall confess their sin, and restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over and above, to him against whom they have sinned.
8 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).
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.
9 All the sacred offerings that the Israelis bring to the priest belong to the priest.
All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong to the priest:
10 The priest can keep those gifts.’”
And whatsoever is offered into the sanctuary by every one, and is delivered into the hands of the priest, it shall be his.
11 Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
12 “Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘Suppose a man thinks that his wife has slept with another man,
Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband,
13 but neither he nor anyone else knows if it is true or not, because no one saw her doing that.
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:
14 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,
If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife, who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,
15 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.]
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.
16 The priest must tell the woman to stand [in front of the altar] in my presence.
The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.
17 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.
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.
18 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].
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.
19 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.
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.
20 But if you have had sex with another man, [Yahweh will curse you].
But if thou hast gone aside from thy husband, and art defiled, and hast lain with another man:
21 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.”
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.
Let the cursed waters enter into thy belly, and may thy womb swell and thy thigh rot. And the woman shall answer, Amen, amen.
23 ‘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].
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,
24 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
And he shall give them her to drink. And when she hath drunk them up,
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,
26 and burn part of it as a sacrifice. Then the woman must drink the bitter water.
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.
27 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.
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.
28 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.
But if she be not defiled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear children.
29 ‘That is the ritual that must be performed when a woman who is married has been unfaithful to her husband,
This is the law of jealousy. If a woman hath gone aside from her husband, and be defiled,
30 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.
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:
31 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.’”
The husband shall be blameless, and she shall bear her iniquity.
