Isolation of the Unclean

1The Lord instructed Moses, 2“Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease,a anyone who has a discharge,b or anyone who is defiled because of a corpse.c 3Send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.” 4The Israelites did this, sending them outside the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord instructed Moses.

Compensation for Wrongdoing

5The Lord spoke to Moses: 6“Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the Lorda and is guilty.b 7The person is to confessa the sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give it to the individual he has wronged.b 8But if that individual has no relativea to receive compensation, the compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the guilty person.b 9Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his.a 10Each one’s holy contribution is his to give; what each one gives to the priest will be his.”

The Jealousy Ritual

11The Lord spoke to Moses: 12“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him, 13and sleeps with another,A but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught in the act; 14and if a feeling of jealousya comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself — or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself —  15then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quartsA of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance to draw attention to guilt.

16“The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord. 17Then the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, take some of the dust from the tabernacle floor, and put it in the water. 18After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hairA and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. 19The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse. 20But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has slept with you’ —  21at this point the priest will make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her — ‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when he makes your wombA shrivel and your belly swell. 22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your womb to shrivel.’

“And the woman will reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’

23“Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her to cause bitter suffering. 25The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman, present the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. 26The priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portiona and burn it on the altar. Afterward, he will require the woman to drink the water.

27“When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her womb will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people. 28But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.

29“This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest will carry out all these instructions for her. 31The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear her iniquity.”