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Unclean Persons

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “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) 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) The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.

Confession and Restitution

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord, that person incurs guilt(C) 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) 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) 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

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “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) 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. All their days as nazirites they shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

“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)

“All the days that they separate themselves to the Lord they shall not go near a corpse.(S) 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. All their days as nazirites they are holy to the Lord.

“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)

Footnotes

  1. 5.21 Heb makes your thigh fall and your belly distend
  2. 5.22 Heb make the belly distend and the thigh fall
  3. 5.27 Heb make her belly distend and her thigh fall

The Parable of the Sower

Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.(A) He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:(B) “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”(C) And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”(D)

The Purpose of the Parables

10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret[a] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables,(E) 12 in order that

‘they may indeed look but not perceive,
    and may indeed hear but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”(F)

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.(G) 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.[b] 18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

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Footnotes

  1. 4.11 Or mystery
  2. 4.17 Or stumble