Numbers

Various Laws

Expulsion of the Impure

The Lord spoke to Moses and said:

“Order the Israelites to put out of the camp all lepers, and all who suffer from a contagious infection, or who have become unclean by touching a corpse.

Man or woman, you must put them out and forbid them to return to the camp. The Israelites must not allow the camp where I dwell among them to become unclean in this way.”

The Israelites did so: they put them out of the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Restitution for Damage Caused

The Lord spoke to Moses and said:

“Tell the people of Israel: If anyone commits a fault against another person and thus is unfaithful to the Lord,

that person must confess the sin committed and return the amount taken, plus 20% more. Payment is to be made to the person who was wronged.

If, however, that person has died and there is no near relative to whom the ill-gotten goods can be returned, this payment owed to the Lord shall be given to the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which the priest makes atonement for the guilty person.

For everything consecrated by the Israelites and brought to the priest, he has a right to set aside the share.

Whatever a person consecrates is his own; whatever is given to the priest belongs to the priest.”

Law of Jealousy

The Lord spoke to Moses and said:

“Say this to the people of Israel: If anyone has a wife who goes astray and is unfaithful to him,

sleeping with some other man without the husband’s knowledge, and she disgraces herself in secret in this way, without any witness against her, and without anyone catching her in the act;

then, perhaps the spirit of jealousy will come over the husband and make him jealous for the wife who has disgraced herself. But maybe the spirit of jealousy comes upon the husband and makes him jealous of his wife, even though she is innocent.

In these cases, the man must bring his wife before the priest and, on her behalf, offer two pounds of barley flour. He is not to pour oil or put incense on it because this is an ‘offering for jealousy,’ a memorial offering to record a fault.

The priest then brings the woman forward and stands her before the Lord.

Then he shall take living water in an earthen jar, and on the water throw dust that he has taken from the floor of the Holy Tent.

After he has placed the woman before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and put in her hands the commemorative offering (that is, the offering for jealousy). In his own hands, the priest will hold the bowl containing bitter water that brings a curse.

He is then to make the woman agree to take an oath. He shall tell her: If it is not true that a man has slept with you, that you have gone astray and disgraced yourself while under your husband’s authority, then may this water of bitterness and cursing do you no harm.

But if it is true that you have gone astray and have disgraced yourself by sharing your bed with a man other than your husband,

may the Lord make of you an example and a curse among your people, making your breast shrink, and your stomach swell!

May this water of cursing enter your body to swell your stomach and to shrink your breast! The woman must answer: Amen! Amen!

Then the priest shall write these curses and wash them off in the bowl of bitter water.

He must make the woman drink this water of bitterness and of cursing, and this water of cursing shall go into her and be bitter inside her.

The priest shall then take the offering for jealousy from the woman’s hands, hold it up before the Lord with a gesture of offering, and carry it up to the altar.

He shall take a handful of the flour as a memorial and burn it on the altar. He shall then make the woman drink the water.

After he has made her drink it, if it is true that she has disgraced herself, deceiving her husband, then the water of cursing that goes into her shall indeed be bitter: her belly will swell, and her breast shrinks, and she will be a curse among her people.

But if she has not disgraced herself and is clean, then she will go unharmed and will bear children.

This is the law in cases of jealousy when a woman has gone astray and disgraced herself while under her husband’s authority,

or when a spirit of jealousy has come over a man and made him jealous of his wife. When a husband brings such a woman before the Lord, the priest must fully apply this law to her.

The husband shall be guiltless, but the woman must bear the punishment for her sin.”