Numbers 5

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

1The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

2Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:

2"Tell the people of Israel to send some people out of the camp. Send out anyone with a skin disease. Send out anyone whose body is leaking fluid. Send out anyone who has touched a dead body.

NoteThe old word "leper" covered many kinds of skin trouble, not only the one doctors call leprosy today.

3Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.

3Send out men and women alike. They must stay outside the camp. Then they will not make the camp unclean. I live there among my people."

4And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

4The people of Israel did this. They sent those people outside the camp. They did just what the LORD told Moses.

5And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

5The LORD spoke to Moses again. He said:

6Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty;

6"Tell the people of Israel this. A man or a woman may do wrong to another person. That wrong is also a sin against the LORD. That person is guilty.

7Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.

7The guilty person must say out loud what he did. He must pay back everything he took. Then he must add one fifth more. He gives it all to the person he hurt.

8But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.

8Sometimes there is no family member left to be paid. Then the payment goes to the LORD, and the priest gets it. A priest is a man who serves God at the holy tent. The man also brings a ram, a male sheep. The ram is offered to make things right between him and God.

9And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.

9The people of Israel bring holy gifts to the priest. Those gifts belong to the priest.

10And every man’s hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.

10Each man keeps his own holy gifts. But whatever he hands to the priest belongs to the priest."

11And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

11Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

12Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,

12"Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them this. A man's wife may turn away and be untrue to him.

13And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;

13She may sleep with another man and keep it secret. Her husband does not know. No one saw her. No one can speak against her.

14And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

14Her husband may start to feel jealous. He may think she has slept with another man. Maybe she really has. Or maybe she has not.

15Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

15Then the man must bring his wife to the priest. He brings a gift for her too. The gift is barley flour, about two quarts. He must not pour oil on it. He must not put frankincense on it, a sweet-smelling gum from a tree. It is a jealousy gift. It is meant to bring the wrong to mind.

Note"A tenth part of an ephah" is an old measure. It is about two quarts of flour, close to two liters.

16And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:

16The priest brings the woman forward. He has her stand before the LORD.

17And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:

17The priest takes holy water in a clay jar. He takes some dust from the floor of the holy tent. He puts the dust into the water.

18And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:

18The priest has the woman stand before the LORD. He lets her hair down. He puts the jealousy gift in her hands. The priest himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse.

19And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

19The priest makes her promise to tell the truth. He says to her: "Maybe no other man has slept with you. Maybe you have not turned away from your husband. Then this bitter water will not harm you.

20But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:

20But maybe you did turn away from your husband. Maybe you did sleep with another man."

21Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;

21Then the priest has her promise, and he says the words of the curse. He says: "May the LORD make your name a curse among your people. May he make your thigh waste away. May he make your belly swell up.

Note"Thy thigh to rot" is old wording. It means her body would waste away and grow weak.

22And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

22May this water go into your body. May it make your belly swell and your thigh waste away." Then the woman says, "Amen, amen." That means, "Let it be so."

23And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:

23The priest writes these curse words on a scroll. Then he washes the words off into the bitter water.

24And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

24He has the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse. The water goes into her and brings bitter pain.

25Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:

25Then the priest takes the jealousy gift from her hands. He lifts it up before the LORD. He brings it to the altar, the table where gifts to God are burned.

26And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.

26The priest takes a handful of the flour. He burns it on the altar as the remembering part. After that he has the woman drink the water.

27And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

27She drinks the water. Maybe she really did sleep with another man. Then the water brings her bitter pain. Her belly will swell up. Her thigh will waste away. Her people will use her name as a curse.

28And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

28But maybe she did not do it. Then she is clean. The water will not harm her. She will be able to have children.

29This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;

29This is the law about jealousy. It is used when a wife turns away and sleeps with another man.

30Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

30It is also used when a husband feels jealous of his wife. He brings her to stand before the LORD. The priest does everything this law says.

31Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

31Then the husband will not be guilty of doing wrong. The woman must carry the guilt of what she did."