Numbers 5
1 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
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.
“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 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 send them out of the camp. They must not defile the camp, because I live in it.”
4 So [Moses/I told that to the Israeli people, and] the Israeli people obeyed what Yahweh commanded Moses/me.
The people of Israel did so. They sent them out of the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. The people of Israel obeyed Yahweh.
5 Yahweh also told Moses/me,
Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
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.
“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 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.
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 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).
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 All the sacred offerings that the Israelis bring to the priest 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 The priest can keep those gifts.’”
The offerings of every person will be for the priest; if anyone gives anything to the priest, it will belong to him.”
11 Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:
Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
12 “Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘Suppose a man thinks that his wife has slept with another man,
“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose that a man's wife turns away and sins against her husband.
13 but neither he nor anyone else knows if it is true or not, because no one saw her doing that.
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 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,
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 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.]
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 The priest must tell the woman to stand [in front of the altar] in my presence.
The priest must bring her near and place her before Yahweh.
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.
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 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].
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 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.
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 had sex with another man, [Yahweh will curse you].
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 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.”
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.
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 ‘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 must write these curses on a scroll, and then he must wash away the written curses 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
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.
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 burn part of it as a sacrifice. Then the woman must drink the bitter 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 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.
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 (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 is not defiled and if she is clean, then she must be free. She will be able to conceive 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 law of jealousy. It is the law for a woman who strays away from her husband and is defiled.
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.
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 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.’”
The man will be free from guilt for bringing his wife to the priest. The woman must bear any guilt she might have.”
