Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Command the Israelites to remove from their camp anyone who is unclean or has an issue because of a bodily discharge. Both men and women must go outside the camp so that they won't defile their camps where I dwell among them." The Israelites obeyed what the Lord had commanded through Moses.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Tell the Israelites: If a man's wife strays from him and is unfaithful but there's no witness against her or she isn't caught in the act. And if jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of his wife, speak to the people as follows. When someone commits any sin that people commit by doing wrong against the Lord, and they are guilty.

Then they must confess their sin and pay back its full amount plus an additional fifth of that amount to be given to the person they have wronged. If the man has no relative who can collect the penalty from him, it will be paid to the Lord, and in addition to the ram of atonement, a sacrifice will be made on his behalf. Every offering brought by the Israelites to the priest shall belong to the priest, but all their sacred possessions will remain theirs.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Tell the Israelites: If any man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful. But if a man lies with her carnally and it remains hidden from her husband yet she is defiled and there are no witnesses against her or she wasn't caught in the act.

If jealousy comes upon him, but she isn't defiled, then the water that brings the curse will be made bitter for her. The man must bring his wife to the priest who will present her offering – a tenth of an ephah of barley meal with no oil or frankincense added – for it's a memorial offering and a reminder of iniquity.

The priest will take holy water in an earthen vessel, add some dust from the tabernacle floor to it, and have the woman stand before the Lord with her offering. The priest will then hold the bitter water that brings the curse and say, "If no man has lain with you, if you haven't strayed to uncleanness with another in place of your husband, this bitter water that brings a curse will not affect you.

But if you have turned aside from your husband, are defiled, and some other man has lain with you beside your husband, then the priest will charge her with an oath saying: "May the Lord make you accursed among your people when he causes your womb to swell and your thigh to rot. May the water that brings a curse flow into your body causing your belly to swell and your thigh to rot.

The woman must reply, 'Amen, amen.' The priest will then write these curses in a book and have them blotted out with the bitter water. He'll have her drink the bitter water, and it will enter her body, becoming bitter. The priest will take the memorial offering from her hand and wave it before the Lord.

He'll burn some of it on the altar as a reminder, then have her drink the water. When she drinks the water, if she is unfaithful to her husband and has committed adultery, the water that brings a curse will cause her womb to swell and her thigh to rot. She will become a source of shame among her people.

If she's innocent and hasn't done anything wrong, she'll be declared not guilty and bear children. This is the law concerning jealousy when a wife betrays her husband and becomes unfaithful. When jealousy comes upon him, he must bring his wife before the Lord, and the priest will execute all this law against her.

The man will be acquitted of guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.