Numbers 5

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whoever is defiled by the dead:

“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 Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst of which I dwell.

Whether male or female, you must send them out of the camp. They must not defile the camp, because I live in it.”

4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spoke to Moses, so did the children of Israel.

The people of Israel did so. They sent them out of the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. The people of Israel obeyed Yahweh.

5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

6 Speak to the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person shall be 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 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal of it, and add to it the fifth [part] of it, and give [it] to [him] against whom he hath trespassed.

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 But if the man shall have no kinsman to recompense the trespass to, let the trespass be recompensed to the LORD, [even] to the priest; besides the ram of the atonement, by which an atonement shall be made for him.

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 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his.

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 And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatever any man giveth to the priest, it shall be his.

The offerings of every person will be for the priest; if anyone gives anything to the priest, it will belong to him.”

11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

12 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If any man's wife shall go astray, and commit a trespass against him,

“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose that a man's wife turns away and sins against her husband.

13 And a man shall lie with her carnally, and it shall be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and [there be] no witness against her, neither she be taken [with the manner];

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 And the spirit of jealousy shall come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy shall come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

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 Then shall the man bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth [part] of an ephah of barley-meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense upon it; for it [is] an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

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 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:

The priest must bring her near and place her before Yahweh.

17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water:

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 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which [is] the jealousy-offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:

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 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say to the woman, If no man hath lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness [with another] instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

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 thou hast gone aside [to another] instead of thy husband, and if thou art defiled, and some man hath lain with thee besides thy husband:

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 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say to the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to perish, and thy belly to swell;

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 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make [thy] belly to swell, and [thy] thigh to perish. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

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 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot [them] out with 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 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, [and become] bitter.

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 Then the priest shall take the jealousy-offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon 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 And the priest shall take a handful of the offering, [even] the memorial of it, and burn [it] upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to 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 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, [that], if she is defiled, and hath done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, [and become] bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall perish: and the woman shall be a curse 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 And if the woman is not defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

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 law of jealousies, when a wife goeth astray [to another] instead of her husband, and is defiled;

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 the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he is jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

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 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

The man will be free from guilt for bringing his wife to the priest. The woman must bear any guilt she might have.”