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The LORD spoke to Moses:
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“Command the Israelites that every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and everyone who is unclean by reason of a dead body shall be sent outside the camp;
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both male and female you shall send out; outside the camp you shall send them, so that they do not defile the camp in the midst of which I dwell among them.”
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And the Israelites did so; they sent those people outside the camp. As the LORD had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.
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The LORD spoke to Moses:
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“Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman commits any sin against another person, and so acts unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person becomes guilty,
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then he shall confess the sin that he has committed; and he shall make full restitution for his guilt, adding one-fifth to it, and give it to the one against whom he has been guilty.
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But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution for the guilt may be paid, the restitution for the guilt that is paid shall belong to the LORD, and it shall be the priest’s, besides the ram of atonement by which atonement is made for him.
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Every holy offering of the Israelites that is brought to the priest shall be his.
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Each man’s holy offerings shall be his own; whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be the priest’s.”
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The LORD spoke to Moses:
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“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to her husband,
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and another man lies with her and has intercourse with her, and it is hidden from her husband, and she has defiled herself secretly, and there is no witness against her, and she is not caught,
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and if a spirit of jealousy comes over the husband and he is jealous of his wife, though she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over the husband and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself,
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then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring an offering for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a memorial offering that brings wrongdoing to remembrance.
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Then the priest shall bring the woman near and set her before the LORD.
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And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
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When the priest has set the woman before the LORD, he shall loosen the woman’s hair and place in her hands the memorial offering, that is, the jealousy offering; and in the priest’s hand shall be the bitter water that brings a curse.
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Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse.
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But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself, and some other man besides your husband has lain with you—
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then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman, ‘May the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, by causing your thigh to waste away and your belly to swell;
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and may this water that brings a curse enter your body, so that your belly swells and your thigh wastes away.’ And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
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Then the priest shall write these curses in a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.
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He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water shall enter her body and cause bitter pain.
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The priest shall take the jealousy offering from the woman’s hand and wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.
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Afterward the priest shall take a handful of the offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
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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 a curse shall enter her body and cause bitter pain, so that her belly will swell and her thigh will waste away; and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
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But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall be able to bear children.”
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This is the law of jealousy, when a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,
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or if a spirit of jealousy comes over a man, so that he is jealous of his wife; he shall bring the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall carry out this whole law for her.
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The man shall be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear the consequence of her guilt.
🚫🧼💍 Summary of Numbers 5 – The Holiness of the Tabernacle, Restitution, and the Law of Adultery
Numbers 5 contains three important sections that affirm the holiness of the community of Israel, especially because God dwells in their midst.
This chapter discusses:
- Separation of the unclean from the camp
- Restitution for sin against one’s neighbor
- Law for investigating accusations of adultery
All of this shows that the LORD cares not only about worship, but also about moral purity and social justice.
📌 1. Separation of the Unclean (verses 1–4)
- A person who has:
Leprosy
A discharge (for example, a bodily disease)
Become unclean by touching a dead body
➡️ Must be sent out of the camp, so as not to defile the LORD’s camp.
📖 This is not discrimination, but an act to preserve the community’s holiness and the people’s physical health.
📌 2. Restitution for Offenses against One’s Neighbor (verses 5–10)
- If someone sins against another person (for example, by stealing or deceiving), it is also considered a sin against the LORD.
- He must:
Confess his sin
Restore what he has taken
Add one-fifth (20%) of the value of the loss
- If the victim has already died and has no heir → the property is given to the priest.
🎯 Principle: Sin against one’s neighbor = sin against the Lord. And true repentance → is shown through restoration.
📌 3. Jealousy Test / Law of Unfaithfulness (verses 11–31)
- A husband who suspects his wife of unfaithfulness may bring his wife to the priest.
- The priest will perform the “bitter water” ritual:
The woman drinks water mixed with dust from the Tent and words of curse.
If guilty, her belly will swell and she will become barren.
If not guilty, she will be free from the curse and remain fruitful.
📖 This test is left entirely to the knowledge of the all-knowing God and becomes a means to preserve the integrity of marriage and justice.
📖 Main Teachings
- God desires physical, moral, and spiritual holiness from His people.
- Wrong against one’s neighbor is wrong against God.
- True repentance must be accompanied by confession and restoration (restitution).
- The household is part of the holiness of God’s people—unfaithfulness or suspicion must be handled justly and in holiness.
- God knows the contents of the heart and the secrets of humanity—He is a just judge.
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Covenant)
- In Christ, holiness is not only about the body, but the heart (Matthew 5:8).
- Forgiveness of sin must also be accompanied by restored relationships and social responsibility.
- Jesus emphasizes that forgiveness does not free us from responsibility toward others (Luke 19:8–10 – Zacchaeus).
- Conscience and inward truth become the center of the test in the new covenant, not ritual.
