Numbers 5:6-31 ▼

6 “Speak to the sons of Israel, a man or woman, when they do from all the sins of the man, to act unfaithfully—an unfaithfulness—against YHWH, and that soul is guilty,

7 and he shall confess the sin that he has committed, and He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, and plus a fifth of it to it, and give it to the one he has done wrong unto him.

8 But if the man has no redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for the wrong is unto YHWH, for the priest, in addition to the ram of the atonement, with which atonement is made for him.

9 And every contribution of all the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they bring to the priest, unto him shall be.

10 And every man’s holy things shall be unto him; whatever any man gives the priest shall be unto him.”

11 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: A man, a man—when his wife goes astray and she acts unfaithfully against him—an unfaithfulness—

13 and a man lying with her lies, sowing, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed, and she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she was not caught,

14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, and she has defiled herself; or if a spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he becomes jealous of his wife although she has not defiled herself,

15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And He shall bring the offering required for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall not pour on it oil and not put on it frankincense, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, for bringing to remembrance iniquity.

16 And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the face of YHWH.

17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and some 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 have the woman stand before the face of YHWH, and he shall uncover the head of the woman and put in her hands the offering of the memorial, that is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the bitter water that brings a curse.

19 And the priest shall put her under oath and say to the woman, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband, be free from these bitter waters that bring the curse.

20 And if you have gone astray while under your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man has lain with you in intercourse, other than your husband’—

21 then the priest shall put the woman under the curse of the oath—and the priest shall say to the woman, ‘YHWH will make you an oath and a curse in the midst of your people, when YHWH makes your thigh to rot and your belly to swell.

22 And may these waters that cause the curse go into your stomach, and make swell your belly, and your thigh rot.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

23 And the priest shall write these oaths in the book, and he shall wipe them off into the bitter water.

24 And he shall make the woman drink the bitter waters that bring a curse, and the waters that bring the curse shall enter into her for bitterness.

25 And the priest shall take from the hand of the woman the grain offering of jealousy, and he shall wave the offering before the face of YHWH and bring it to the altar.

26 And the priest shall take a handful of the offering as its memorial and burn it on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.

27 And he shall make her drink the water, and it shall come to pass if she has defiled herself and acted unfaithfully—an unfaithfulness—against her husband, that the water bringing a curse will enter into her for bitterness, and her belly will swell, and her thigh will rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and she is clean, then she shall be free and she may be sown with seed.

29 This is the law of jealousy, when a wife goes astray while under her husband and defiles herself,

30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife. And he shall have the woman stand before the face of YHWH, and the priest shall apply upon her all this law.

31 And the man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.”