Numbers 5

Unclean Persons

1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2#Lev 13.3, 46; 15.2; Num 19.11“Command the Israelites to put out of the camp everyone who has a defiling skin disease or a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with a corpse; 3#Lev 26.11, 12; 2 Cor 6.16you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp; they must not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” 4The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.

Confession and Restitution

5The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6#Lev 6.2, 3“Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord, that person incurs guilt 7#Lev 5.5; 6.5; 26.40and shall confess the sin that has been committed. The person shall make full restitution for the wrong, adding one-fifth to it and giving it to the one who was wronged. 8#Lev 6.6, 7; 7.7If the injured party has no next of kin 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 the guilty party. 9#Lev 6.17, 18, 26; 7.6–14Among all the sacred donations of the Israelites, every gift that they bring to the priest shall be his. 10#Lev 10.13The sacred donations of all are their own; whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”

Concerning an Unfaithful Wife

11The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12#Ex 20.14“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13#Lev 18.20if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act; 14if a spirit of jealousy comes on him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, 15#Ezek 29.16then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

16“Then the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord; 17the 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#1 Cor 11.6The priest shall set the woman before the Lord, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. 19Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had intercourse with you,’ 21#Josh 6.26; 1 Sam 14.24; Neh 10.29—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 uterus drop, your womb discharge;#5.21 Heb makes your thigh fall and your belly distend 22#Deut 27.15; Ps 109.18now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!’#5.22 Heb make the belly distend and the thigh fall And the woman shall say, ‘Amen. Amen.’

23“Then the priest shall put these curses in writing and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her and cause bitter pain. 25#Lev 8.27The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall elevate the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar, 26and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion and turn it into smoke on the altar and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27#Jer 29.18; 42.18; Zech 8.13When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall discharge, her uterus drop,#5.27 Heb make her belly distend and her thigh fall and the woman shall become an execration among her people. 28But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be immune and be able to conceive children.

29 # vv 12, 19 “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30or when a spirit of jealousy comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife, then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall apply this entire law to her. 31The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

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