Numbers 5:5-31 (ESV) (2024)

Confession and Restitution

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Speak to the people of Israel, ^(A)When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, ^7(B)he shall confess his sin that he has committed.^{[a] (C)}And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. ⁸But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to ^(D)the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. ⁹And ^(E)every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. ¹⁰Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”

A Test for Adultery

¹¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him, ¹³if a man ^(F)lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, ^(G)since she was not taken in the act, ¹⁴and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, ¹⁵then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah^[b] of barley flour. ^(H)He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, ^(I)bringing iniquity to remembrance.

¹⁶“And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord. ¹⁷And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord and ^(J)unbind the hair of the woman's head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. ¹⁹Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse. ²⁰But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you, ²¹then’ (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) ^(K)‘the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. ²²May this water that brings the curse ^(L)pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ^(M)‘Amen, Amen.’

²³“Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. ²⁴And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain. ²⁵And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand ^(N)and shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar. ²⁶And the priest ^(O)shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. ²⁷And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman ^(P)shall become a curse among her people. ²⁸But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.

²⁹“This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, ^(Q)though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law. ³¹The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman ^(R)shall bear her iniquity.”

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Confession and Restitution^(A)

⁵Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Speak to the children of Israel: ^(B)‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the Lord, and that person is guilty, ^7(C)then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass ^(D)in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged. ⁸But if the man has no ^[a]relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to ^(E)the ram of the atonement with which atonement is made for him. ⁹Every ^(F)offering^[b] of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be ^(G)his. ¹⁰And every man’s ^[c]holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest shall be ^(H)his.’ ”

Concerning Unfaithful Wives

¹¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him, ¹³and a man ^(I)lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she ^(J)caught— ¹⁴if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes ^(K)jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself— ¹⁵then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall ^(L)bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for ^(M)bringing iniquity to remembrance.

¹⁶‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. ¹⁷The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸Then the priest shall stand the woman before the ^(N)Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹And 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’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. ²⁰But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you”— ²¹then the priest shall ^(O)put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—^(P)“the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh ^[d]rot and your belly swell; ²²and may this water that causes the curse ^(Q)go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.”

‘^(R)Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.”

²³‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. ²⁴And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter. ^25(S)Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, shall ^(T)wave the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar; ²⁶and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, ^(U)as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water. ²⁷When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a ^(V)curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman ^(W)will become a curse among her people. ²⁸But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children.

²⁹‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, ^(X)goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her. ³¹Then the man shall be free from ^[e]iniquity, but that woman ^(Y)shall bear her ^[f]guilt.’ ”

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