Numbers 5
American Standard Version
5 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Command 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: 3 both 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. 4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp; as Jehovah spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
5 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 6 Speak 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; 7 then 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. 8 But 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. 9 And every heave-offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present unto the priest, shall be his. 10 And every man’s hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 13 and 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; 14 and 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: 15 then 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.
16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah: 17 and 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. 18 And 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. 19 And 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, [a]being under thy husband, be thou free from this water of bitterness that causeth the curse. 20 But if thou have gone aside, [b]being under thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee besides thy husband: 21 then 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 [c]curse and an oath among thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to fall away, and thy body to swell; 22 and 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.
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness: 24 and 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. 25 And 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: 26 and 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. 27 And 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. 28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
29 This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, [d]being under her husband, goeth aside, and is defiled; 30 or 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. 31 And the man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:19 Or, with another instead of thy husband. See Ezek. 23:5; Rom. 7:2.
- Numbers 5:20 Or, with another instead of thy husband. See Ezek. 23:5; Rom. 7:2.
- Numbers 5:21 Or, adjuration
- Numbers 5:29 Or, goeth aside with another instead of her husband
Numbers 5
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Isolation of the Unclean
5 The Lord instructed Moses: 2 “Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, or anyone who is defiled because of a corpse.(A) 3 You must send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.” 4 The Israelites did this, sending them outside the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord instructed Moses.
Compensation for Wrongdoing
5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 6 “Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the Lord and is guilty. 7 The person is to confess the sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give it to the individual he has wronged.(B) 8 But if that individual has no relative(C) to receive compensation,[a] the compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the guilty person.(D) 9 Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his.(E) 10 Each one’s holy contribution is his to give; what each one gives to the priest will be his.”
The Jealousy Ritual
11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him, 13 and sleeps with another,[b] but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught in the act; 14 and if a feeling of jealousy comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself— 15 then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quarts[c] of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance that brings sin to mind.
16 “The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, and take some of the dust from the tabernacle floor and put it in the water. 18 After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair[d] and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has slept with you’— 21 at this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when He makes your thigh[e] shrivel and your belly swell.[f] 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’
“And the woman must reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’
23 “Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause bitter suffering. 25 The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, wave the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Then he will require the woman to drink the water.
27 “When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.
29 “This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30 or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire ritual to her. 31 The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear the consequences of her guilt.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:8 If the individual has died
- Numbers 5:13 Lit and man lies with her [and has] an emission of semen
- Numbers 5:15 Lit a tenth of an ephah
- Numbers 5:18 Or to uncover her head
- Numbers 5:21 Possibly a euphemism for the reproductive organs
- Numbers 5:21 Or flood
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.