Numbers 5

Revised Geneva Translation

5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

² “Command the children of Israel that they put every leper out of the camp, and everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is defiled by the dead.

³ “You shall put out both male and female. You shall put them out of the camp, so that they do not defile their tents, among whom I dwell.”

⁴ And the children of Israel did so and put them out of the camp. As the LORD had Commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

⁵ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁶ “Speak to the children of Israel. When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit— and transgress against the LORD — when that person shall trespass,

⁷ “then they shall confess their sin which they have done and shall restore the damage with principal plus a fifth part more. And he shall give it to him against whom he has trespassed.

⁸ “But if the man has no kinsman to whom he should restore the damage, the damage shall be restored to the LORD for the Priest’s use (in addition to the Ram of the Atonement) by which he shall make atonement for him.

⁹ “And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the Priest, shall be his.

¹⁰ “And every man’s hallowed things shall be his. Whatever any man gives the Priest, it shall be his.”

¹¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife turns to evil and commits a trespass against him,

¹³ ‘so that another man lies with her, fleshly. And it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and concealed that she is defiled. And there is no witness against her, nor is she caught in the act.

¹⁴ ‘If he is moved with a jealous mind, so that he is jealous over his wife who is defiled. Or if he has a jealous mind, so that he is jealous over his wife who is not defiled,

¹⁵ ‘then the man shall bring his wife to the Priest and bring her offering with her (one tenth of an ephah of barley meal). He shall not pour oil upon it, nor put incense on it. For it is an offering of jealousy, an offering for a remembrance, calling the sin to mind.

¹⁶ ‘And the Priest shall bring her and set her before the LORD.

¹⁷ ‘Then the Priest shall take the holy water in an earthen vessel and the dust that is in the floor of the Tabernacle. The Priest shall take it and put it into the water.

¹⁸ ‘Afterward, the Priest shall set the woman before the LORD and uncover the woman’s head and put the offering of the memorial in her hands. It is the Jealousy Offering. And the Priest shall have bitter, cursed water in his hand.

¹⁹ ‘And the Priest shall charge her by an oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and you have not turned to uncleanness from your husband, be free from this bitter, cursed water.

²⁰ “But if you have turned from your husband, and so are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband…”

²¹ ‘Then the Priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing. And the Priest shall say to the woman, “The LORD make you accursed and detestable for the oath among the people. And the LORD cause your thigh to rot and your belly to swell,

²² “and cause this cursed water to go into your bowels, to cause your belly to swell, and your thigh to rot.” Then the woman shall answer, “Amen, Amen.”

²³ ‘Afterward, the Priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall blot them out with the bitter water,

²⁴ ‘and shall cause the woman to drink the bitter and cursed water. And the cursed water turned into bitterness shall enter into her.

²⁵ ‘Then the Priest shall take the Jealousy Offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall shake the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the Altar.

²⁶ ‘And the Priest shall take from the offering, for a memorial thereof, and burn it upon the Altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.

²⁷ ‘When he has made her drink the water, if she is defiled and has trespassed against her husband, then shall the cursed water, turned into bitterness, enter into her. And her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot, and the woman shall be accursed among her people.

²⁸ ‘But if the woman is not defiled, but is clean, she shall be free, and shall conceive and bear.

²⁹ ‘This is the Law of Jealousy, when a wife turns from her husband and is defiled.

³⁰ ‘Or, when a man is moved with a jealous mind, being jealous over his wife, then he shall bring the woman before the LORD. And the Priest shall do to her according to all this Law,

³¹ ‘And the man shall be free from sin. But this woman shall bear her iniquity.’”