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Numbers 5-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Numbers 5-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Unclean Persons
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the Israelites to put out of the camp everyone who has a defiling skin disease or a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with a corpse;(A) 3 you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp; they must not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”(B) 4 The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.
Confession and Restitution
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord, that person incurs guilt(C) 7 and shall confess the sin that has been committed. The person shall make full restitution for the wrong, adding one-fifth to it and giving it to the one who was wronged.(D) 8 If the injured party 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 the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for the guilty party.(E) 9 Among all the sacred donations of the Israelites, every gift that they bring to the priest shall be his.(F) 10 The sacred donations of all are their own; whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”(G)
Concerning an Unfaithful Wife
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,(H) 13 if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act;(I) 14 if a spirit of jealousy comes on him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. 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, bringing iniquity to remembrance.(J)
16 “Then the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord; 17 the 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. 18 The priest shall set the woman before the Lord, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.(K) 19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had intercourse with you,’ 21 —let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse and say to the woman—‘the Lord make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge;[a](L) 22 now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!’[b] And the woman shall say, ‘Amen. Amen.’(M)
23 “Then the priest shall put these curses in writing and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her and cause bitter pain. 25 The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall elevate the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar,(N) 26 and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion and turn it into smoke on the altar and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall discharge, her uterus drop,[c] and the woman shall become an execration among her people.(O) 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be immune and be able to conceive children.
29 “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,(P) 30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife, then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall apply this entire law to her. 31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”
The Nazirites
6 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When either men or women make a special vow, the vow of a nazirite, to separate themselves to the Lord,(Q) 3 they shall separate themselves from wine and strong drink; they shall drink no wine vinegar or other vinegar and shall not drink any grape juice or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All their days as nazirites they shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 “All the days of their nazirite vow no razor shall come upon the head; until the time is completed for which they separate themselves to the Lord, they shall be holy; they shall let the locks of the head grow long.(R)
6 “All the days that they separate themselves to the Lord they shall not go near a corpse.(S) 7 Even if their father or mother, brother or sister, should die, they may not defile themselves, because their consecration to God is upon the head. 8 All their days as nazirites they are holy to the Lord.
9 “If someone suddenly dies nearby, defiling the head of the nazirite, then they shall shave the head on the day of their cleansing; on the seventh day they shall shave it. 10 On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting,(T) 11 and the priest shall offer one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering and make atonement for them, because they incurred guilt by reason of the corpse. They shall sanctify the head that same day 12 and separate themselves to the Lord for their days as nazirites and bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering. The former time shall be void because the nazarite was defiled.(U)
13 “This is the law for the nazirites when the time of their consecration has been completed: they shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting,(V) 14 and they shall offer their gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a purification offering, one ram without blemish as an offering of well-being,(W) 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of choice flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, with their grain offering and their drink offerings.(X) 16 The priest shall present them before the Lord and offer their purification offering and burnt offering 17 and offer the ram as a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest also shall make the accompanying grain offering and drink offering. 18 Then the nazirites shall shave the consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from the consecrated head and put it on the fire under the sacrifice of well-being.(Y) 19 The priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer and shall put them in the palms of the nazirites, after they have shaved the consecrated head. 20 Then the priest shall elevate them as an elevation offering before the Lord; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is elevated and the thigh that is offered. After that the nazirites may drink wine.
21 “This is the law for the nazirites who take a vow. Their offering to the Lord must be in accordance with the nazirite vow, apart from what else they can afford. In accordance with whatever vow they take, so they shall do, following the law for their consecration.”
The Priestly Benediction
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them:(Z)
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;(AA)
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;(AB)
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.(AC)
27 “So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”(AD)
Numbers 5-6
New International Version
Numbers 5-6
New International Version
The Purity of the Camp
5 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease[a](A) or a discharge(B) of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean(C) because of a dead body.(D) 3 Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.(E)” 4 The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
Restitution for Wrongs
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way[b] and so is unfaithful(F) to the Lord is guilty(G) 7 and must confess(H) the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution(I) for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8 But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram(J) with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.(K) 9 All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him.(L) 10 Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.(M)’”
The Test for an Unfaithful Wife
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray(N) and is unfaithful to him 13 so that another man has sexual relations with her,(O) and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14 and if feelings of jealousy(P) come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure— 15 then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah[c](Q) of barley flour(R) on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy,(S) a reminder-offering(T) to draw attention to wrongdoing.
16 “‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair(U) and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy,(V) while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse.(W) 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray(X) and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse(Y) not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray(Z) while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse(AA)—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse[d] among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water(AB) that brings a curse(AC) enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”
“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.(AD)”
23 “‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll(AE) and then wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her. 25 The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord(AF) and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial[e] offering(AG) and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. 27 If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.(AH) 28 If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.
29 “‘This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray(AI) and makes herself impure while married to her husband, 30 or when feelings of jealousy(AJ) come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. 31 The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences(AK) of her sin.’”
The Nazirite
6 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow(AL), a vow of dedication(AM) to the Lord as a Nazirite,(AN) 3 they must abstain from wine(AO) and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar(AP) made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes(AQ) or raisins. 4 As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.
5 “‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor(AR) may be used on their head.(AS) They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.
6 “‘Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body.(AT) 7 Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean(AU) on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head. 8 Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord.
9 “‘If someone dies suddenly in the Nazirite’s presence, thus defiling the hair that symbolizes their dedication,(AV) they must shave their head on the seventh day—the day of their cleansing.(AW) 10 Then on the eighth day(AX) they must bring two doves or two young pigeons(AY) to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(AZ) 11 The priest is to offer one as a sin offering[f](BA) and the other as a burnt offering(BB) to make atonement(BC) for the Nazirite because they sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day they are to consecrate their head again. 12 They must rededicate themselves to the Lord for the same period of dedication and must bring a year-old male lamb(BD) as a guilt offering.(BE) The previous days do not count, because they became defiled during their period of dedication.
13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the period of their dedication is over.(BF) They are to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.(BG) 14 There they are to present their offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect(BH) for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering,(BI) a ram(BJ) without defect for a fellowship offering,(BK) 15 together with their grain offerings(BL) and drink offerings,(BM) and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast—thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil.(BN)
16 “‘The priest is to present all these(BO) before the Lord(BP) and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.(BQ) 17 He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering(BR) to the Lord, together with its grain offering(BS) and drink offering.(BT)
18 “‘Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication.(BU) They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.
19 “‘After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair that symbolizes their dedication, the priest is to place in their hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket, both made without yeast.(BV) 20 The priest shall then wave these before the Lord as a wave offering;(BW) they are holy(BX) and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented.(BY) After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.(BZ)
21 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite(CA) who vows offerings to the Lord in accordance with their dedication, in addition to whatever else they can afford. They must fulfill the vows(CB) they have made, according to the law of the Nazirite.’”
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless(CC) the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “‘“The Lord bless you(CD)
and keep you;(CE)
25 the Lord make his face shine on you(CF)
and be gracious to you;(CG)
26 the Lord turn his face(CH) toward you
and give you peace.(CI)”’
27 “So they will put my name(CJ) on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 5:2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
- Numbers 5:6 Or woman who commits any wrong common to mankind
- Numbers 5:15 That is, probably about 3 1/2 pounds or about 1.6 kilograms
- Numbers 5:21 That is, may he cause your name to be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, may others see that you are cursed; similarly in verse 27.
- Numbers 5:26 Or representative
- Numbers 6:11 Or purification offering; also in verses 14 and 16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.