1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. 3 You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.” 4 The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as the LORD spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did. 5 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against the LORD, and that soul is guilty, 7 then he shall confess his sin which he has done; and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty. 8 But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to the LORD shall be the priest’s, in addition to the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him. 9 Every heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his. 10 Every man’s holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.’” 11 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; 14 and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she isn’t defiled; 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 16 The priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD. 17 The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 The priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—” 21 then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May the LORD make you a curse and an oath amongst your people, when the LORD allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 22 and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.” 23 “‘The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness. 24 He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 25 The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse amongst her people. 28 If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring. 29 “‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled, 30 or when the 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 execute on her all this law. 31 The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.’”
Numbers · World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Numbers 5 World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
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People & places in this chapter
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People
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (26)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 2 Leviticus 13:46; Leviticus 21:1; Numbers 12:14; Numbers 9:6–10; Numbers 31:19
- 3 Deuteronomy 23:14; Leviticus 26:11–12; Numbers 35:34; Psalm 68:18; Revelation 21:3
- 6 Leviticus 5:1–4; Leviticus 5:14–6:7
- 7 Leviticus 5:5; Leviticus 26:40; Joshua 7:19; Proverbs 28:13; Luke 19:8
- 8 Leviticus 6:6–7; Leviticus 7:7; Leviticus 25:25–26
- 9 Numbers 18:19; Exodus 29:28; Deuteronomy 18:3–4; Leviticus 7:6–14; Leviticus 6:17–18
- 10 Leviticus 10:13
- 12 Numbers 5:19–20; Proverbs 2:16–17
- 13 Leviticus 18:20; Leviticus 20:10; Proverbs 30:20; Proverbs 7:18–19
- 14 Proverbs 6:34; Song of Songs 8:6; Numbers 5:30; 1 Corinthians 10:22; Zephaniah 3:8
- 15 Ezekiel 29:16; Leviticus 5:11; 1 Kings 17:18; Leviticus 2:1; Hosea 3:2
- 16 Revelation 2:22–23; Hebrews 13:4; Leviticus 1:3; Jeremiah 17:10
- 17 Exodus 30:18; John 8:6; Lamentations 3:29; John 8:8; Numbers 19:2–9
- 18 Leviticus 13:45; Hebrews 13:4; Numbers 5:15; Revelation 2:19–23; Numbers 5:17
- 19 Numbers 5:12; Romans 7:2; Matthew 26:63
- 20 Numbers 5:12
- 21 Nehemiah 10:29; 1 Samuel 14:24; Joshua 6:26; Jeremiah 29:22; Proverbs 10:7
- 22 Psalm 109:18; Proverbs 1:31; Psalm 41:13; John 3:3; Job 31:21–22
- 23 Job 31:35; Psalm 51:1; Jeremiah 51:60–64; Isaiah 43:25; Deuteronomy 31:19
- 24 Malachi 3:5; Zechariah 5:3–4
- 25 Leviticus 8:27; Numbers 5:15; Numbers 5:18; Exodus 29:24
- 26 Leviticus 2:2; Leviticus 2:9; Leviticus 5:12; Leviticus 6:15
- 27 Zechariah 8:13; Jeremiah 29:18; Jeremiah 42:18; Jeremiah 44:12; Isaiah 65:15
- 28 1 Peter 1:7; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Numbers 5:19; Psalm 113:9; Micah 7:7–10
- 29 Numbers 5:19; Numbers 5:12; Leviticus 15:32–33; Isaiah 5:7–8; Numbers 5:15
- 31 Leviticus 20:10; Romans 2:8–9; Psalm 37:6; Leviticus 20:17–20; Ezekiel 18:4
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences