Numbers 5
1 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
The Lord told Moses,
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.
“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 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 male or female, you must expel them so they won't make their camp unclean, for that is where I live with them.”
4 So [Moses/I told that to the Israeli people, and] the Israeli people obeyed what Yahweh commanded Moses/me.
The Israelites followed these instructions, and expelled such people from the camp. They did what the Lord had told Moses they should do.
5 Yahweh also told Moses/me,
The Lord told Moses,
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.
“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning against someone else, they are guilty
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.
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 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).
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 All the sacred offerings that the Israelis bring to the priest belong to the priest.
All holy offerings that the Israelites bring to the priest belong to him.
10 The priest can keep those gifts.’”
Your holy offerings belong to you, but once you give them to the priest they belong to him.”
11 Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:
The Lord told Moses,
12 “Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘Suppose a man thinks that his wife has slept with another man,
“Tell the Israelites that these are the instructions to follow if a man's wife has an affair, being unfaithful to him
13 but neither he nor anyone else knows if it is true or not, because no one saw her doing that.
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 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,
But if her husband becomes jealous and suspicious of his wife, whether she's guilty or not,
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 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 The priest must tell the woman to stand [in front of the altar] in my presence.
The priest is to lead the wife forward and have her stand 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.
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 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].
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 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.
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 But if you have had sex with another man, [Yahweh will curse you].
But if you have been unfaithful while married to your husband and have become unclean and have had sex with someone else…”
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.”
(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.
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 ‘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].
The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.
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
He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that curses, and it will cause her bitter pain if she is guilty.
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 burn part of it as a sacrifice. Then the woman must drink the bitter 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 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.
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 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 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 ‘That is the ritual that must be performed when a woman who is married has been unfaithful to her husband,
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 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.
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 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.’”
If she is found guilty, her husband will not be held responsible. But the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.
