Numbers, 5

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

1. The LORD said to Moses,

2. 'Order the Israelites to expel from the camp all those suffering from a contagious skin-disease or from a discharge, or who have become unclean by touching a corpse.

2. "Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one having a discharge, and every one that is unclean through contact with the dead;

3. Whether man or woman, you will expel them; you will expel them from the camp, so that they do not pollute their encampments, in the heart of which I dwell.'

3. you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell."

4. The Israelites did so: they expelled them from the camp. The Israelites did as Yahweh had told Moses.

4. And the people of Israel did so, and drove them outside the camp; as the LORD said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.

5. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

5. And the LORD said to Moses,

6. 'Speak to the Israelites: "If a man or woman commits any of the sins by which people break faith with Yahweh, that person incurs guilt.

6. "Say to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that men commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person is guilty,

7. "The person must confess the sin committed and restore in full the amount owed, with one-fifth added. Payment is to be made to the person wronged.

7. he shall confess his sin which he has committed; and he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it, and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.

8. "If, however, the latter has no relation to whom restitution can be made, the restitution due to Yahweh reverts to the priest, apart from the ram of expiation with which the priest makes expiation for the guilty party.

8. But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.

9. For of everything the Israelites consecrate and bring to the priest he has a right to the portion set aside.

9. And every offering, all the holy things of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his;

10. Whatever anyone consecrates is his own; whatever is given to the priest belongs to the priest." '

10. and every man's holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest shall be his."

11. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

11. And the LORD said to Moses,

12. 'Speak to the Israelites and say: "If anyone has a wife who goes astray and is unfaithful to him,

12. "Say to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully against him,

13. if some other man sleeps with the woman without the husband's knowledge, and she secretly makes herself unclean, without any witness against her, and without anyone catching her in the act;

13. if a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act;

14. if, then, a spirit of suspicion comes over the husband and makes him suspicious of the wife who has disgraced herself, or again if this spirit of suspicion comes over him and makes him suspicious of his wife even when she is innocent,

14. and if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself;

15. the man will bring his wife before the priest, and on her behalf make an offering of one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He will not pour oil over it or put incense on it, because this is a cereal offering for a case of suspicion, a memorial offering to recall guilt to mind.

15. then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a cereal offering of jealousy, a cereal offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

16. "The priest will then bring the woman forward and place her before Yahweh.

16. "And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD;

17. The priest will then take fresh water in an earthen jar, and on the water throw dust that he has taken from the floor of the Dwelling.

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

18. After he has placed the woman before Yahweh, he will unbind her hair and put the commemorative cereal offering (that is, the cereal offering for a case of suspicion) into her hands. In his own hands the priest will hold the water of bitterness and cursing.

18. And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and unbind the hair of the woman's head, and place in her hands the cereal offering of remembrance, which is the cereal offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.

19. "The priest will then put the woman on oath. He will say to her: If it is not true that a man has slept with you, that you have gone astray and made yourself unclean while under your husband's authority, may this water of bitterness and cursing do you no harm.

19. Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, `If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness, while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.

20. But if it is true that you have gone astray while under your husband's authority, that you have made yourself unclean and that a man other than your husband has slept with you . . .

20. But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you,

21. Here the priest will impose an imprecatory oath on the woman. He will say to her: . . . May Yahweh make you the object of your people's execration and curses, by making your sexual organs shrivel and your belly swell!

21. then' (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) `the LORD make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell;

22. May this water of cursing entering your bowels, make your belly swell and your sexual organs shrivel! To which the woman will reply: Amen! Amen!

22. may this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your body swell and your thigh fall away.' And the woman shall say, `Amen, Amen.'

23. "Having written these curses on a scroll and washed them off in the water of bitterness,

23. "Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and wash them off into the water of bitterness;

24. the priest will make the woman drink the water of bitterness and cursing; when the water of cursing enters into her, it will become bitter.

24. and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.

25. "The priest will then take the cereal offering for a case of suspicion from the woman's hands, and hold it up before Yahweh with a gesture of offering, and so carry it up to the altar.

25. And the priest shall take the cereal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the cereal offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar;

26. He will take a handful of it as a memorial and burn it on the altar. "After this, he will make the woman drink the water.

26. and the priest shall take a handful of the cereal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.

27. After he has made her drink it, if it is true that she has made herself unclean and been unfaithful to her husband, the water of cursing then entering into her will indeed be bitter: her belly will swell and her sexual organs shrivel, and she will be an object of execration to her people.

27. And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has acted unfaithfully against her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her body shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become an execration among her people.

28. But if she has not made herself unclean, but is clean, then she will go unscathed and will bear children.

28. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.

29. "Such is the ritual in cases of suspicion, when a woman has gone astray and made herself unclean while under her husband's authority,

29. "This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself,

30. or when a spirit of suspicion has come over a man and made him suspicious of his wife. When a husband brings such a woman before Yahweh, the priest will apply this ritual to her in full.

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

31. The husband will be guiltless, but the woman will bear the consequences of her guilt." '

31. The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity."