Liber Numeri 5

1 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens:

Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 Præcipe filiis Israël, ut ejiciant de castris omnem leprosum, et qui semine fluit, pollutusque est super mortuo:

“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.

3 tam masculum quam feminam ejicite de castris, ne contaminent ea cum habitaverint vobiscum.

You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

4 Feceruntque ita filii Israël, et ejecerunt eos extra castra, sicut locutus erat Dominus Moysi.

So the Israelites did this, sending such people outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

5 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens:

And the LORD said to Moses,

6 Loquere ad filios Israël: Vir, sive mulier, cum fecerint ex omnibus peccatis, quæ solent hominibus accidere, et per negligentiam transgressi fuerint mandatum Domini, atque deliquerint,

“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty

7 confitebuntur peccatum suum, et reddent ipsum caput, quintamque partem desuper, ei in quem peccaverint.

and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution, add a fifth to its value, and give all this to the one he has wronged.

8 Sin autem non fuerit qui recipiat, dabunt Domino, et erit sacerdotis, excepto ariete, qui offertur pro expiatione, ut sit placabilis hostia.

But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.

9 Omnes quoque primitiæ, quas offerunt filii Israël, ad sacerdotem pertinent:

Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him.

10 et quidquid in sanctuarium offertur a singulis, et traditur manibus sacerdotis, ipsius erit.

Each man’s sacred gifts are his own, but whatever he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.”

11 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens:

Then the LORD said to Moses,

12 Loquere ad filios Israël, et dices ad eos: Vir cujus uxor erraverit, maritumque contemnens

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him

13 dormierit cum altero viro, et hoc maritus deprehendere non quiverit, sed latet adulterium, et testibus argui non potest, quia non est inventa in stupro:

by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act),

14 si spiritus zelotypiæ concitaverit virum contra uxorem suam, quæ vel polluta est, vel falsa suspicione appetitur:

and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself—

15 adducet eam ad sacerdotem, et offeret oblationem pro illa, decimam partem sati farinæ hordeaceæ: non fundet super eam oleum, nec imponet thus: quia sacrificium zelotypiæ est, et oblatio investigans adulterium.

then he is to bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity.

16 Offeret igitur eam sacerdos, et statuet coram Domino,

The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD.

17 assumetque aquam sanctam in vase fictili, et pauxillum terræ de pavimento tabernaculi mittet in eam.

Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

18 Cumque steterit mulier in conspectu Domini, discooperiet caput ejus, et ponet super manus illius sacrificium recordationis, et oblationem zelotypiæ: ipse autem tenebit aquas amarissimas, in quibus cum execratione maledicta congessit.

After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.

19 Adjurabitque eam, et dicet: Si non dormivit vir alienus tecum, et si non polluta es deserto mariti thoro, non te nocebunt aquæ istæ amarissimæ, in quas maledicta congessi.

And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse.

20 Sin autem declinasti a viro tuo, atque polluta es, et concubuisti cum altero viro:

But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’—

21 his maledictionibus subjacebis: det te Dominus in maledictionem, exemplumque cunctorum in populo suo: putrescere faciat femur tuum, et tumens uterus tuus disrumpatur.

and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

22 Ingrediantur aquæ maledictæ in ventrem tuum, et utero tumescente putrescat femur. Et respondebit mulier: Amen, amen.

May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

23 Scribetque sacerdos in libello ista maledicta, et delebit ea aquis amarissimis, in quas maledicta congessit,

And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.

24 et dabit ei bibere. Quas cum exhauserit,

He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering.

25 tollet sacerdos de manu ejus sacrificium zelotypiæ, et elevabit illud coram Domino, imponetque illud super altare, ita dumtaxat ut prius:

The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

26 pugillum sacrificii tollat de eo, quod offertur, et incendat super altare: et sic potum det mulieri aquas amarissimas.

Then the priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar; after that he is to have the woman drink the water.

27 Quas cum biberit, si polluta est, et contempto viro adulterii rea, pertransibunt eam aquæ maledictionis, et inflato ventre, computrescet femur: eritque mulier in maledictionem, et in exemplum omni populo.

When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

28 Quod si polluta non fuerit, erit innoxia, et faciet liberos.

But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be unaffected and able to conceive children.

29 Ista est lex zelotypiæ. Si declinaverit mulier a viro suo, et si polluta fuerit,

This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

30 maritusque zelotypiæ spiritu concitatus adduxerit eam in conspectu Domini, et fecerit ei sacerdos juxta omnia quæ scripta sunt:

or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law.

31 maritus absque culpa erit, et illa recipiet iniquitatem suam.

The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”