CHAPTER 5
1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
2 Command thou to the sons of Israel, that they cast out of the tents each leprous man, and that floweth out the seed, and that is defouled upon a dead body;
3 cast ye out of the tents, as well a male as a female, lest they defoul those [or them], when they dwell with you.
4 And the sons of Israel did so; and they putted them out of the tents, as the Lord spake to Moses.
5 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
6 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, When a man either a woman hath done any of all the sins that be wont to fall to men, and have broken by negligence the behest of the Lord, and have trespassed,
7 they shall acknowledge their sin, and they shall yield that head, or debt, and the fifth part above, to him against whom they sinned.
8 But if none there is that shall receive that, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s part, besides the ram that is offered for cleansing, that it be a quemeful sacrifice.
9 Also all the first fruits, which the sons of Israel offer, pertain to the priest;
10 and whatever thing is offered of each man in the saintuary, which a man hallowed, and gave to the hands of the priest, it shall be the priest’s part.
11 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
12 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, If a man’s wife hath erred, and hath despised her husband,
13 and hath slept with another man, and the husband may not take, either prove this, but the adultery is hid, and may not be proved by witnesses, for she is not found in lechery;
14 if the spirit of jealousy stirreth the husband against his wife, which is either defouled, either she is impeached by false suspicion,
15 the man shall bring her to the priest, and he shall offer an offering for her, the tenth part of a measure called a saton of barley meal; he shall not pour oil thereupon, neither he shall put incense thereto, for it is the sacrifice of jealousy, and an offering inquiring adultery.
16 Therefore the priest shall offer her, and shall set her before the Lord;
17 and he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall put into it a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle.
18 And when the woman standeth in the sight of the Lord, the priest shall uncover her head, and he shall put upon her hands the sacrifice of remembering, and the offering of jealousy. Soothly he shall hold the most bitter waters, in which he hath gathered together curses with cursing.
19 And he shall conjure or adjure her, and say, If an alien man slept not with thee, and if thou art not defouled in forsaking the bed of thine husband, these bitter waters shall not harm thee, into which I have gathered together curses;
20 else if thou bowedest away from thine husband, and art defouled, and hast lain with another man,
21 thou shalt be subject to these cursings; the Lord give thee into cursing, and into ensample of all men in his people; the Lord make thine hip to wax rotten, and thy womb swell, and be it broken;
22 these cursed waters enter into thy womb, and while thy womb swelleth, thine hip wax rotten. And the woman shall answer, Amen! amen!
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a little book, and he shall do away those curses with the bitterest waters,
24 into which he gathered curses, and he shall give to her the waters to drink. And when she hath drunk those waters,
25 the priest shall take of her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and he shall raise it [up] before the Lord, and he shall put it on the altar;
26 so only that he take before an handful of that sacrifice that is offered, and burn it upon the altar, and so give drink to the woman the most bitter waters.
27 And when she hath drunk those waters, if she is defouled, and is guilty of adultery, for her husband is despised of her, the waters of cursing shall pass through her, and while her womb is swollen, her hip shall wax rotten, and the woman shall be into cursing and into ensample to all the people.
28 That if she is not defouled, she shall be harmless, and shall bring forth free children.
29 This is the law of jealousy, if a woman boweth away from her husband, and is defouled,
30 and the husband is stirred with the spirit of jealousy, and bringeth her into the sight of the Lord, and the priest doeth to her by all things that be written,
31 the husband shall be without sin, and she shall receive her wickedness.