Numbers 5

Rules about unclean people

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to the Israelites. They must send any person with a disease of the skin away from the camp. Or somebody may have a disease that causes pus to come out of their body. Any person like that is unclean. Anyone who has touched a dead person is also unclean. Send those people out of the camp too. 3 Do this with both men and women. Send them out of the camp. They must not make the camp unclean, because that is where I live among the people.’

4 The Israelites did what the Lord had said to Moses. They sent those people outside the camp.

What to pay when you do a wrong thing

5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 ‘Tell these rules to the Israelites. A person might do a wrong thing against another person. If they do, then they have turned against the Lord. 7 That person must agree that they have done this sin. They must pay the right amount to the other person. They must also pay them one fifth extra. 8 But the other person may have died. If they have no relative who can accept the money, the money will belong to the Lord. The person who did a wrong thing must give the money and a male sheep to the priest. The sheep is a sacrifice to make the person clean from their sin. Then I will forgive the guilty person. 9 All the special gifts from the Israelites to God are for the priest. 10 The priest will keep all these gifts that he receives from people.’

A test when a husband is jealous of his wife

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘Speak to the Israelites. Tell them to follow these rules. A woman may do wrong things against her husband. 13 She might have had sex with another man. The husband might not know about this. His wife might have kept it secret. Nobody saw what was happening. So there is nobody to say that it happened. 14 But the man may think that it happened. He will be jealous. But his wife may not really have made herself unclean in that way. 15 The man must take his wife to the priest. He must bring one kilogram of barley flour with him. This is a grain offering to discover if his wife did do those things. So he must not put oil or incense on the grain offering. It is an offering because the man does not trust his wife.

16 Then the priest will bring the woman to stand in front of the Lord. 17 He must pour some holy water into a bowl that is made from clay. He must take some dust from the floor of the tabernacle. And he must put the dust into the water. 18 Then the priest must bring the woman in front of the Lord. He must make the woman's hair free. He must put into her hands the grain offering. That is the offering because the man does not trust his wife. The priest must hold the bowl that contains bitter water. The bitter water brings a curse on guilty people. 19 Then the woman must agree to the strong promise that the priest tells her to say.

The priest must say to her, “This water brings a curse on guilty people. If no other man has had sex with you, it will not hurt you. 20 But if another man has had sex with you, 21 may the Lord bring the curse on you. The bitter water will cause your female parts to become smaller. Your stomach will become very big. 22 That will happen when you drink the bitter water.”

The woman must say, “That should happen. I agree!”

23 The priest must write the curses on a scroll of paper. Then he must wash the words off the paper into the bitter water. 24 He must tell the woman that she must drink the bitter water. This water that brings a curse will go into her body. It may cause her to be very ill.

25 But first, the priest must take the grain offering from her hands. That is the offering because the man does not trust his wife. The priest must lift it up in front of the Lord. Then he must bring it to the altar. 26 He must burn a small part of it as a sacrifice. After that, the woman must drink the bitter water. 27 If the woman has had sex with another man, the water will cause her to have very bad pain. Her female parts will become smaller. Her stomach will become very big. People who know her will curse her. 28 But, if she did not do those wrong things, the water will not hurt her. She will be able to have babies.

29-30 Perhaps a man is jealous because his wife has had sex with another man. Or he may only think that his wife has had sex with another man. This is what the Law says that the priest must do: The man must bring her in front of the Lord. 31 If the woman did not do those wrong things, you must not punish her husband. But if the woman did do those wrong things, you must punish her.’