Lejren skal være hellig
1Herren sagde til Moses: 2„Giv Israels folk ordre til at sende alle, der lider af smittefarlige hudsygdomme, ud af lejren. Desuden skal alle, der har udflåd eller har været i berøring med lig, udelukkes fra at opholde sig i lejren, for den slags personer er urene. 3Denne ordning gælder for både mænd og kvinder. I skal udelukke disse mennesker, så de ikke besmitter lejren, hvor jeg har taget bolig.” 4Israelitterne gjorde straks, som Herren havde befalet Moses: alle de urene blev sendt uden for lejren.
Erstatningspligt og offergaver
5Da sagde Herren til Moses: 6„Sig til Israels folk, at hvis en mand eller en kvinde svigter mig ved at begå en synd og dermed pådrager sig skyld, 7skal de bekende den synd, de har begået. Hvis synden drejer sig om materielle værdier, skal den forurettede have erstatning med et tillæg på 20 procent. 8Men hvis den forurettede er død, og der ikke er nogen slægtning til at modtage erstatning, skal betalingen tilfalde præsten sammen med den vædder, som bringes til soning for synden. 9-10Ligeledes tilfalder alle særlige offergaver præsten.”
Kvinder, der mistænkes for utroskab
11Herren sagde til Moses: 12-14„Sig til Israels folk, at hvis en mand har mistanke om, at hans kone har været ham utro, så han er jaloux, men der ikke findes vidner eller klare beviser, 15skal manden føre sin kone til præsten, og han skal medbringe et offer på et kilo rent bygmel, men ingen olivenolie eller røgelse. Det skal være et jalousioffer—dvs. mandens anmodning til Herren om, at sandheden må komme frem i lyset. 16Derpå skal præsten fremstille den mistænkte kvinde for Herren, 17mens han hælder indviet vand i en lerskål og rører lidt støv fra boligens gulv i vandet. 18Så skal han tage hendes hovedbeklædning væk og lægge jalousiofferet i hendes hænder, for at det kan blive afgjort, om der er baggrund for mandens mistanke. Imens skal præsten stille sig foran hende med krukken, der indeholder den bitre forbandelses vand. 19Da skal han sige til hende: ‚Hvis du ikke har haft seksuel omgang med andre end din mand, skal du fritages for den forbandelse, der ligger i dette vand. 20Men hvis du har vendt dig fra din mand og gjort dig selv uren ved en anden mand, 21-22vil Herren forbande dig midt iblandt dit folk, og vandet vil få din livmoder til at svulme op, og du vil ikke kunne få børn.’ Da skal kvinden svare: ‚Lad denne forbandelse ramme mig, hvis jeg er skyldig.’ 23Præsten skal skrive forbandelsen på et stykke læder, hvorefter han skal vaske den skrevne forbandelse af i det bitre vand, 24så når hun drikker vandet, vil hun samtidig drikke sig en forbandelse til. 25Præsten skal nu tage jalousiofferet ud af hendes hænder, svinge det for Herrens ansigt og bringe det hen til alteret. 26Så skal han tage en håndfuld af dette offer og hælde det på alterets ild som et røgoffer, hvorefter kvinden skal drikke vandet. 27Hvis hun virkelig har gjort sig selv uren og har været sin mand utro, skal forbandelsesvandet blive bittert i hende, så hendes livmoder svulmer op, og hun ikke længere kan få børn—og man skal bruge hendes navn som en forbandelse. 28Men hvis hun er uskyldig og ikke har været manden utro, vil der ikke ske hende noget—og hun vil fortsat være i stand til at få børn.
29-30Det er de forskrifter, der skal følges, når en mand mistænker sin kone for utroskab—og ved at følge dem vil det blive afgjort, hvem der har ret. Manden skal føre sin kone frem for Herren, og præsten skal handle efter ovennævnte forskrifter. 31Men hvis forbandelsen rammer hende, er manden uden skyld—for kvinden har fået den straf, hun har fortjent.”
The Purity of the Camp
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease5:2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin. or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. 3Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” 4The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
Restitution for Wrongs
5The Lord said to Moses, 6“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way5:6 Or woman who commits any wrong common to mankind and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty 7and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8But 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 with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer. 9All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. 10Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.’ ”
The Test for an Unfaithful Wife
11Then the Lord said to Moses, 12“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 13so that another man has sexual relations with her, 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), 14and if feelings of jealousy 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— 15then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah5:15 That is, probably about 3 1/2 pounds or about 1.6 kilograms of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder-offering to draw attention to wrongdoing.
16“ ‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. 17Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. 19Then 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 and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— 21here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse5:21 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. among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”
“ ‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”
23“ ‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. 24He 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. 25The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. 26The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial5:26 Or representative offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. 27If 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. 28If, 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 and makes herself impure while married to her husband, 30or when feelings of jealousy 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. 31The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.’ ”
