Numbers 5
1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
2 'Command the sons of Israel, and they send out of the camp every leper, and every one with an issue, and every one defiled by a body;
“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.
3 from male unto female ye do send out; unto the outside of the camp ye do send them; and they defile not their camps in the midst of which I do tabernacle.'
Whether male or female, you must expel them so they won't make their camp unclean, for that is where I live with them.”
4 And the sons of Israel do so, and they send them out unto the outside of the camp; as Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses so have the sons of Israel done.
The Israelites followed these instructions, and expelled such people from the camp. They did what the Lord had told Moses they should do.
5 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
6 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, Man or woman, when they do any of the sins of man, by committing a trespass against Jehovah, and that person [is] guilty,
“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning against someone else, they are guilty
7 and they have confessed their sin which they have done, then he hath restored his guilt in its principal, and its fifth is adding to it, and hath given [it] to him in reference to whom he hath been guilty.
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.
8 'And if the man have no redeemer to restore the guilt to, the guilt which is restored [is] Jehovah's, the priest's, apart from the ram of the atonements, whereby he maketh atonement for him.
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.
9 'And every heave-offering of all the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they bring near to the priest, becometh his;
All holy offerings that the Israelites bring to the priest belong to him.
10 and any man's hallowed things become his; that which any man giveth to the priest becometh his.'
Your holy offerings belong to you, but once you give them to the priest they belong to him.”
11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
The Lord told Moses,
12 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When any man's wife turneth aside, and hath committed against him a trespass,
“Tell the Israelites that these are the instructions to follow if a man's wife has an affair, being unfaithful to him
13 and a man hath lain with her [with] the seed of copulation, and it hath been hid from the eyes of her husband, and concealed, and she hath been defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she hath not been caught,
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.
14 and a spirit of jealousy hath passed over him, and he hath been jealous of his wife, and she hath been defiled; — or, a spirit of jealousy hath passed over him, and he hath been jealous of his wife, and she hath not been defiled —
But if her husband becomes jealous and suspicious of his wife, whether she's guilty or not,
15 'Then hath the man brought in his wife unto the priest, and he hath brought in her offering for her, a tenth of the ephah of barley meal, he doth not pour on it oil, nor doth he put on it frankincense, for it [is] a present of jealousy, a present of memorial, causing remembrance of iniquity.
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.
16 'And the priest hath brought her near, and hath caused her to stand before Jehovah,
The priest is to lead the wife forward and have her stand before the Lord.
17 and the priest hath taken holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle doth the priest take, and hath put [it] into the water,
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.
18 and the priest hath caused the woman to stand before Jehovah, and hath uncovered the woman's head, and hath given into her hands the present of the memorial, it [is] a present of jealousy, and in the hand of the priest are the bitter waters which cause the curse.
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.
19 'And the priest hath caused her to swear, and hath said unto the woman, If no man hath lain with thee, and if thou hast not turned aside [to] uncleanness under thy husband, be free from these bitter waters which cause the curse;
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.
20 and thou, if thou hast turned aside under thy husband, and if thou hast been defiled, and any man doth give his copulation to thee besides thy husband —
But if you have been unfaithful while married to your husband and have become unclean and have had sex with someone else…”
21 (then the priest hath caused the woman to swear with an oath of execration, and the priest hath said to the woman) — Jehovah doth give thee for an execration, and for a curse, in the midst of thy people, in Jehovah's giving thy thigh to fall, and thy belly to swell,
(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.
22 and these waters which cause the curse have gone into thy bowels, to cause the belly to swell, and the thigh to fall; and the woman hath said, Amen, Amen.
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.”
23 'And the priest hath written these execrations in a book, and hath blotted [them] out with the bitter waters,
The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.
24 and hath 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.
He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that curses, and it will cause her bitter pain if she is guilty.
25 'And the priest hath taken out of the hand of the woman the present of jealousy, and hath waved the present before Jehovah, and hath brought it near unto the altar;
The priest shall take back from her the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord, and take it to the altar.
26 and the priest hath taken a handful of the present, its memorial, and hath made perfume on the altar, and afterwards doth cause the woman to drink the water:
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.
27 yea, he hath caused her to drink the water, and it hath come to pass, if she hath been defiled, and doth commit a trespass against her husband, that the waters which cause the curse have gone into her for bitter things, and her belly hath swelled, and her thigh hath fallen, and the woman hath become an execration in the midst of her people.
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.
28 'And if the woman hath not been defiled, and is clean, then she hath been acquitted, and hath been sown [with] seed.
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.
29 'This [is] the law of jealousies, when a wife turneth aside under her husband, and hath been defiled,
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,
30 or when a spirit of jealousy passeth over a man, and he hath been jealous of his wife, then he hath caused the woman to stand before Jehovah, and the priest hath done to her all this law,
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.
31 and the man hath been acquitted from iniquity, and that woman doth bear her iniquity.'
If she is found guilty, her husband will not be held responsible. But the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.
