Numbers 5

¹And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

²Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is unclean by the dead:

³both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camp, in the midst whereof I dwell.

⁴And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp; as Jehovah spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

⁵And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

⁶Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Jehovah, and that soul shall be guilty;

⁷then he shall confess his sin which he hath done: and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him in respect of whom he hath been guilty.

⁸But if the man have no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made unto Jehovah shall be the priest’s; besides the ram of the atonement, whereby atonement shall be made for him.

⁹And every heave-offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present unto the priest, shall be his.

¹⁰And every man’s hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.

¹¹And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

¹²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,

¹³and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, and she be not taken in the act;

¹⁴and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

¹⁵then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and shall bring her oblation for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is a meal-offering of jealousy, a meal-offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

¹⁶And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah:

¹⁷and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

¹⁸And the priest shall set the woman before Jehovah, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal-offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal-offering of jealousy: and the priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that causeth the curse.

¹⁹And the priest shall cause her to swear, and shall say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou have not gone aside to uncleanness, being under thy husband, be thou free from this water of bitterness that causeth the curse.

²⁰But if thou have gone aside, being under thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee besides thy husband:

²¹then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to fall away, and thy body to swell;

²²and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, and make thy body to swell, and thy thigh to fall away. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

²³And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness:

²⁴and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causeth the curse; and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.

²⁵And the priest shall take the meal-offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal-offering before Jehovah, and bring it unto the altar:

²⁶and the priest shall take a handful of the meal-offering, as the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.

²⁷And when he hath made her drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled, and have committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her body shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

²⁸And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

²⁹This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goeth aside, and is defiled;

³⁰or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then shall he set the woman before Jehovah, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

³¹And the man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.

Numbers 5

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“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.

³You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

⁴So the Israelites did this, sending such people outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

⁵And the LORD said to Moses,

⁶“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty

⁷and 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.

⁸But 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.

⁹Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him.

¹⁰Each man’s sacred gifts are his own, but whatever he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.”

¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him

¹³by 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),

¹⁴and 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—

¹⁵then 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.

¹⁶The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD.

¹⁷Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

¹⁸After 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.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰But 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’—

²¹and 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.

²²May 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.’

²³And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.

²⁴He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering.

²⁵The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

²⁶Then 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.

²⁷When 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.

²⁸But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be unaffected and able to conceive children.

²⁹This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

³⁰or 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.

³¹The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”