Good News Bible

Numbers 5:6-15 Good News Bible (GNB)

6. the following instructions for the people of Israel. When anyone is unfaithful to the Lord and commits a wrong against someone,

7. he must confess his sin and make full repayment, plus an additional twenty per cent, to the person he has wronged.

8. But if that person has died and has no near relative to whom payment can be made, it shall be given to the Lord for the priest. This payment is in addition to the ram used to perform the ritual of purification for the guilty person.

9. Also every special contribution which the Israelites offer to the Lord belongs to the priest to whom they present it.

10. Each priest shall keep the offerings presented to him.

11. The Lord commanded Moses

12-14. to give the Israelites the following instructions. It may happen that a man becomes suspicious that his wife is unfaithful to him and has defiled herself by having intercourse with another man. But the husband may not be certain, for his wife may have kept it secret — there was no witness, and she was not caught in the act. Or it may happen that a husband becomes suspicious of his wife, even though she has not been unfaithful.

15. In either case the man shall take his wife to the priest. He shall also take the required offering of one kilogramme of barley flour, but he shall not pour any olive oil on it or put any incense on it, because it is an offering from a suspicious husband, made to bring the truth to light.