Numbers 5

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying: —

Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

2 Command the sons of Israel, that they send forth out of the camp, every leper, and every one that hath a flux, —and every one that is unclean by the dead:

“Command the people of Israel to send away from the camp everyone with an infectious skin disease, and everyone who has an oozing sore, and whoever is unclean through touching a dead body.

3 whether male or female, ye shall send them forth, unto the outside of the camp, shall ye send them, —that they make not their camps unclean, in the midst whereof, I, have my habitation.

Whether male or female, you must send them out of the camp. They must not defile the camp, because I live in it.”

4 And the sons of Israel did so, and sent them forth unto the outside of the camp, —as Yahweh spake unto Moses, so, did the sons of Israel.

The people of Israel did so. They sent them out of the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. The people of Israel obeyed Yahweh.

5 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

6 Speak unto the sons of Israel: When any man or woman, shall do aught of any human sin, in acting unfaithfully against Yahweh, —and that person shall become aware of his guilt,

“Speak to the people of Israel. When a man or woman commits any sin such as people do to one another, and is unfaithful to me, that person is guilty.

7 then shall they confess their sin which they have done, and he shall make good that wherein he is guilty, in the principal thereof, and the fifth part thereof, shall he add thereunto, —and give to him against whom he is guilty,

Then he must confess the sin that he has done. He must completely pay back the price of his guilt and add to the price one-fifth more. He must give this to the one he has wronged.

8 But if one have no kinsman unto whom he may make good that wherein he is guilty, then that wherein he is guilty, which is to be restored to Yahweh, shall be the priest’s, —besides the ram of propitiation, wherewith a propitiatory-covering is to be put over him.

But if the wronged person has no close relative to receive the payment, he must pay the price for his guilt to me through a priest, along with a ram to atone for himself.

9 And every heave-offering, of all the hallowed things of the sons of Israel which they bring near to the priest, unto him, shall it belong.

Every offering of the people of Israel, the things that are set aside and brought to the priest by the people of Israel, will belong to him.

10 And, every man’s hallowed things, shall be, his own, —what any man giveth to the priest, shall be his.

The offerings of every person will be for the priest; if anyone gives anything to the priest, it will belong to him.”

11 And Yahweh spake unto Moses saying:

Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

12 Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say unto them, —When any man’s wife, shall turn aside, and commit against him an act of unfaithfulness;

“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose that a man's wife turns away and sins against her husband.

13 and a man shall lie with her carnally, and it shall be concealed from the eyes of her husband and be kept close but, she, hath committed uncleanness, —though witness, there is none against her, and she, hath not been caught;

Then suppose that another man sleeps with her. In that case, she is defiled. Even if her husband does not see it or know about it, and even if no one catches her in the act and there is no one to testify against her,

14 but there shall pass over him a spirit of jealousy, and he shall become jealous of his wife, she having committed uncleanness, —or there shall pass over him a spirit of jealousy, and he shall become jealous of his wife, she not, having committed uncleanness,

nevertheless, a spirit of jealousy might still inform the husband that his wife is defiled. However, a spirit of jealousy might falsely come on a man when his wife is not defiled.

15 then shall the man bring in his wife unto the priest, and shall bring in her offering for her, the tenth of an ephah of the meal of barley, —he shall not pour thereon oil, nor put thereon frankincense, for a jealousy gift, it is, a reminding gift bringing to mind iniquity.

In such cases, the man must bring his wife to the priest. The husband must take an offering required on her behalf, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He must pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembering, as a reminder of the iniquity.

16 Then shall the priest bring her near, —and cause her to stand before Yahweh;

The priest must bring her near and place her before Yahweh.

17 and the priest shall take hallowed water in an earthen vessel, —and of the dust which shall be upon the floor of the habitation, shall the priest take, and put into the water;

The priest must take a jar of holy water and take dust from the floor of the tabernacle. He must put the dust into the water.

18 and the priest shall cause the woman to stand before Yahweh, and shall bare the head of the woman, and shall place upon her hands the reminding gift, it being a jealousy gift, —and in the hand of the priest, shall be the deadly water that bringeth a curse;

The priest will set the woman before Yahweh and he will untie the hair on the woman's head. He will put into her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that can bring a curse.

19 and the priest shall put her on oath and shall say unto the woman: —If no man hath lain with thee, and if thou hast not turned aside in uncleanness, [unto another] instead of thy husband, be thou clear from this deadly water that causeth a curse.

The priest will put the woman under an oath and say to her, 'If no other man had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and committed impurity, then you will be free from this bitter water that can bring a curse.

20 But, if, thou, hast turned aside, [to another] instead of thy husband and if thou hast made thyself unclean, —in that a man hath known thee carnally, other than thy husband,

But if you, a woman under her husband, have gone astray, if you are defiled, and if some other man has slept with you,

21 then shall the priest put the woman on oath with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, Yahweh give thee up for a curse and for an oath in the midst of thy people, —in that Yahweh shall give up thy thigh to fall away, and thy womb to swell:

then, (the priest must cause the woman to swear an oath that can bring down a curse on her, and then he must continue speaking to the woman) 'Yahweh will make you into a curse that will be shown to your people to be such. This will happen if Yahweh causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell.

22 so shall this water that causeth a curse enter into thy body, causing womb to swell and thigh to fall away. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

This water that brings the curse will go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thighs waste away.' The woman is to reply, 'Yes, let that happen if I am guilty.'

23 Then shall the priest write these curses in a scroll, —and wipe them out into the deadly water;

The priest must write these curses on a scroll, and then he must wash away the written curses into the bitter water.

24 and shall cause the woman to drink the deadly water that causeth a curse, —and the deadly water that causeth a curse shall enter into her.

The priest must make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse. The water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter.

25 Then shall the priest take from the hand of the woman the jealousy meal-offering, —and shall wave the meal-offering before Yahweh, and bring it near unto the altar;

The priest must take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand. He must hold up the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it to the altar.

26 and the priest shall take a handful from the meal-offering, a remembrancer thereof, and make a perfume at the altar, —and afterwards, shall cause the woman to drink the water.

The priest must take a handful of the grain offering as a representative offering, and burn it on the altar. Then he must give the woman the bitter water to drink.

27 And as soon as he causeth her to drink, the water, then shall it be, that, if she have fallen into uncleanness and committed unfaithfulness against her husband, as soon as the deadly water that causeth a curse hath entered into her, so soon shall her womb swell and her thigh fall away, —thus shall the woman become a curse in the midst of her people.

When he gives her the water to drink, if she is defiled because she has committed a sin against her husband, then the water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter. Her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away. The woman will be cursed among her people.

28 But, if the woman have not fallen into uncleanness, but is pure, then shall she be clear and shall bear seed.

But if the woman is not defiled and if she is clean, then she must be free. She will be able to conceive children.

29 This, is the law of jealousies, —when a wife shall turn aside [to another] instead of her husband, and fall into uncleanness;

This is the law of jealousy. It is the law for a woman who strays away from her husband and is defiled.

30 or when there passeth over, a husband, a spirit of jealousy, and he becometh jealous of his wife, then shall he cause the woman to stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law:

It is the law for a man with a spirit of jealousy when he is jealous of his wife. He must bring the woman before Yahweh, and the priest must do to her everything that this law of jealousy describes.

31 thus shall the man be clear of iniquity; but that woman, shall bear her iniquity.

The man will be free from guilt for bringing his wife to the priest. The woman must bear any guilt she might have.”