Numbers 5

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

2 “Instruct the sons of Israel to cast out of the camp every leper, and those who have a flow of seed, and those who have been polluted because of 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 cast out of the camp both male and female, lest they contaminate it while I am dwelling with you.”

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 sons of Israel did so, and they cast them out, beyond the camp, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

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 “Say to the sons of Israel: A man or a woman, when they have done anything out of all the sins that often befall men, or if, by negligence, they have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and so have committed an offense,

“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 they shall confess their sin, and they shall restore the principle itself, plus a fifth part above it, to any against whom they have sinned.

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 there would be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be for the priest, except for the ram, which is offered for expiation, in order to be a pleasing victim.

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 Likewise, all the first-fruits, which the sons of Israel offer, belong to the priest,

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 with whatever is offered by each one at the Sanctuary, and which is delivered into the hands of 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 sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: The man whose wife will have gone astray, and, disdaining her husband,

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

13 will have slept with another man, and if her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and if it cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not caught in the shameful act,

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 if the spirit of jealousy stirs up the husband against his wife, who either has been polluted or is being assailed with a false suspicion,

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 he shall bring her to the priest, and he shall offer an oblation for her, a tenth part of native barley meal. He shall not pour oil over it, nor shall he place frankincense on it, because it is a sacrifice for jealousy, or an oblation investigating adultery.

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 Therefore, the priest shall offer it, and he shall set it in the sight of the Lord.

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

17 And he shall take up holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth from the pavement of the tabernacle into it.

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 while the woman stands before the Lord, he shall uncover her head, and he shall place over her hands the sacrifice of recollection and oblation of jealousy. But he shall take hold of the most bitter waters, in which he has gathered curses with loathing.

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 he shall bind her by an oath, and he shall say: ‘If another man has not slept with you, and if you have not been polluted by forsaking the bed of your husband, these most bitter waters, into which I have gathered curses, shall not harm you.

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 you have turned away from your husband, and also have been defiled, and have lain together with another man,

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 these curses shall be thrown upon you: May the Lord turn you into a curse and an example among all his people. May he cause your thigh to rot, and may your abdomen swell up and burst out.

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 May the cursed waters enter into your stomach, and may your womb swell and your thigh rot.’ And the woman shall respond: ‘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 little book, and then he shall erase them with the very bitter waters, into which he had gathered the curses,

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 give it to her to drink. And when she has emptied it,

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 the priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and he shall elevate it before the Lord, and he shall impose it upon the altar. Yet only after he first

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 takes a handful of the sacrifice from that which is offered, and burns it upon the altar, and then he may give the most bitter waters to the woman as a drink.

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 she drinks it, if she has been defiled, and, having despised her husband, is guilty of adultery, the curse shall pass through her, and as her belly swells up, her thigh shall decay, and the woman shall become a curse and an example to all the 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 But if she has not been defiled, she shall be unharmed and she shall bear children.

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 for jealousy. If a woman has turned aside from her husband, and if she has been polluted,

This is the law of jealousy. It is the law for a woman who strays away from her husband and is defiled.

30 and if the husband, being stirred up by the spirit of jealousy, has brought her before the sight of the Lord, and the priest has acted toward her according to all that has been written:

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 the husband shall be without guilt, and she 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.”