NumbersChapter 5

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¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²"Command the Israelites to send certain people out of the camp. Send out anyone with a skin disease. Send out anyone who has a discharge from the body. And send out anyone who is unclean from touching a dead body. ³Send away both men and women. Send them outside the camp. Then they will not make the camp unclean, where I live among the people." ⁴So the Israelites did this. They sent these people outside the camp. They did just what the LORD had told Moses. ⁵The LORD said to Moses, ⁶"Tell the Israelites this. A man or woman may sin against another person. That person has been unfaithful to the LORD and is guilty. ⁷That person must confess the sin he has done. He must pay back the full amount of the wrong. He must add one-fifth to it. Then he must give it all to the person he wronged. ⁸But the wronged man may have no close relative to receive the payment. Then the payment belongs to the LORD. It must be given to the priest. A ram must be given too. With it the priest will make atonement for the guilty person. ⁹Every holy gift the Israelites bring to the priest will belong to him. ¹⁰Each man's holy 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 this. A man's wife may go astray and be unfaithful to him. ¹³She may sleep with another man. It may be hidden from her husband, and no one finds out she is unclean. There is no witness against her, and she was not caught in the act. ¹⁴A feeling of jealousy may come over her husband. He may think his wife has made herself unclean. Or a feeling of jealousy may come over him, and he may think this even though she has not made herself unclean. ¹⁵Then he must bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring an offering for her. It is about 2 quarts of barley flour. He must not pour oil on it or put frankincense on it. That is because it is a grain offering for jealousy. It is a memorial offering that brings sin to mind.a ¹⁶The priest must bring the woman forward and have her stand before the LORD. ¹⁷Then he must put some holy water in a clay jar. He must take some dust from the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water. ¹⁸The priest must have the woman stand before the LORD. Then he must loosen her hair. He must put the grain offering in her hands. It is the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy. The priest must hold the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹Then the priest must make the woman take an oath. He must say to her, 'Maybe no other man has slept with you. Maybe you have not gone astray and become unclean while married to your husband. If so, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. ²⁰But maybe you have gone astray while married to your husband. Maybe you have made yourself unclean and slept with a man other than your husband.' ²¹Here the priest must make the woman swear the oath of the curse. He must say, 'Then may the LORD make you a curse among your people. May he do it by making your thigh shrink and your belly swell. ²²May this water that brings a curse go into your stomach. May it make your belly swell and your thigh shrink.' Then the woman must say, 'Amen, Amen.' ²³The priest must write these curses on a scroll. Then he must wash the words off into the bitter water. ²⁴He must have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. The water will go into her. It may cause her bitter suffering. ²⁵The priest must take the grain offering for jealousy from her hand. He must wave it before the LORD and bring it to the altar. ²⁶Then the priest must take a handful of the grain offering as a reminder portion. He must burn it on the altar. After that he must have the woman drink the water. ²⁷He will make her drink the water. If she has made herself unclean and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will go into her. It will cause bitter suffering. Her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrink. She will become a curse among her people. ²⁸But if the woman has not made herself unclean, and she is pure, she will not be harmed. She will be able to have children. ²⁹This is the law about jealousy. It is for when a wife goes astray and makes herself unclean while married to her husband. ³⁰It is also for when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He must have the woman stand before the LORD. The priest must carry out this whole law with her. ³¹The husband will be free from guilt. But the woman will carry the guilt of her sin."