Numbers 5–6

Isolation of the Unclean

5The Lord instructed Moses: ²“Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease, ^danyone who has a bodily discharge, ^eor anyone who is defiled because of a corpse. ^f3You must send 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 Lord ^gand is guilty. ^h7The person is to confess ⁱthe 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. ^j8But if that individual has no relative ^kto receive compensation, ^lthe compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the guilty person. ^m9Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his. ⁿ¹⁰Each 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, ^obut 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 jealousy ^pcomes 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 quarts ^qof 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 that brings sin to mind.

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, and 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 hair ^rand 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 must 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 thigh ^sshrivel and your belly swell. ^t22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’

“And the woman must 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 and cause bitter suffering. ²⁵The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, wave 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 portion ^uand burn it on the altar. Then 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 and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her thigh 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 apply this entire ritual to her. ³¹The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear the consequences of her guilt.”

The Nazirite Vow

6The Lord instructed Moses: ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow, ^vto consecrate himself to ^wthe Lord, ³he is to abstain ^xfrom wine and beer. ^yHe must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, ^zduring his vow.

⁵“You must not cut his hair ^athroughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long. ⁶He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the Lord. ^b7He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, because the hair consecrated to his God is on his head. ⁸He is holy to the Lord ^cduring the time of consecration.

⁹“If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day. ^d10On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ^e11The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering ^fto make atonement on behalf of the Nazirite, since he sinned because of the corpse. On that day he must consecrate ^ghis head again. ^h12He is to rededicate his time of consecration to the Lord and to bring a year-old male lamb as a restitution offering. ⁱBut do not count the previous period, because his consecrated hair became defiled.

¹³“This is the law of the Nazirite: On the day his time of consecration is completed, he must be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting. ^j14He is to present an offering to the Lord ^kof one unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, one unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a fellowship offering, ^l15along with their grain offerings and drink offerings, ^mand a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil. ⁿ

¹⁶“The priest is to present these before the Lord and sacrifice the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. ¹⁷He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

¹⁸“The Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair from his head, and put it on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice. ¹⁹The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands ^oof the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head. ²⁰The priest is to wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord. ^pIt is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution. ^qAfter that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹“This is the ritual of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his consecration, ^rin addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes in keeping with the ritual for his consecration.”

The Priestly Blessing

²²The Lord spoke to Moses: ²³“Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴May Yahweh bless you and protect you; ^s

²⁵may Yahweh make His face shine on you

and be gracious to you; ^t

²⁶may Yahweh look with favor on you ^u

and give you peace. ^vw

²⁷In this way they will pronounce My name over ^xthe Israelites, and I will bless them.”