Numbers 5:18-28

18 And the priest shall cause the woman to stand before the LORD and shall uncover the woman’s head and put the present of remembrance in her hands, which is the present of jealousy; and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings the curse.
19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath and say unto the woman, If no man has lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone astray from thy husband to uncleanness, thou shalt be clean from this bitter water that brings the curse.
20 But if thou hast gone astray from thy husband and hast defiled thyself and some man has placed seed in thee other than thine husband,
21 (the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing) and the priest shall say unto the woman, Let the LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people when the LORD makes thy thigh to fail and thy belly to swell,
22 and this water that causes the curse shall go into thy bowels and cause thy belly to swell and thy thigh to fail. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water;
24 and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her as bitter.
25 Then the priest shall take the present of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall wave the offering before the LORD and offer it before the altar.
26 And the priest shall take a handful of the present, in memory of her, and incense it upon the altar and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
27 He shall give her, therefore, the water to drink, and it shall come to pass, that if she is defiled and has betrayed her husband, that the water that works the curse shall enter into her in bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fail; and that woman shall be a curse among her people.
28 But if the woman is not defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free and shall conceive seed.

Numbers 5:18-28 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 5

This chapter contains a repetition of some former laws, concerning putting unclean persons out of the camp, Nu 5:1-4; making restitution in case of trespass against another, Nu 5:5-8; and of giving the offering of all holy things and all hallowed things to the priests, Nu 5:9,10; and a new law concerning jealousy, in a man, of his wife, Nu 5:11-14; when she was to be brought to the priest, and various rites and ceremonies to be used, Nu 5:15-23; who was to give her bitter water as a trial of her chastity, which, if guilty, would have a strange effect upon her, and make her accursed, but if not, would not affect her, and she would be free and happy, Nu 5:24-31.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010