Numbers 5
ISOLATION OF THE UNCLEAN
The Lord instructed Moses,
2 “Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease, anyone who has a discharge, or anyone who is defiled because of a corpse. 3 Send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.” 4 The Israelites did this, sending them outside the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord instructed Moses.
COMPENSATION FOR WRONGDOING
5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 6 “Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the Lord and is guilty. 7 The person is to confess the sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give it to the individual he has wronged. 8 But if that individual has no relative to receive compensation, the compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the guilty person. 9 Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his. 10 Each one’s holy contribution is his to give; what each one gives to the priest will be his.”
THE JEALOUSY RITUAL
11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him, 13 and sleeps with another, but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught in the act; 14 and if a feeling of jealousy comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself — or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself — 15 then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quarts of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance to draw attention to guilt.
16 “The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, take some of the dust from the tabernacle floor, and put it in the water. 18 After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has slept with you’ — 21 at this point the priest will make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her — ‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when he makes your womb shrivel and your belly swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your womb to shrivel.’
“And the woman will reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’
23 “Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her to cause bitter suffering. 25 The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman, present the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Afterward, he will require the woman to drink the water.
27 “When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her womb will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.
29 “This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30 or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest will carry out all these instructions for her. 31 The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear her iniquity.”
Psalm 39
THE FLEETING NATURE OF LIFE
For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.
3 My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.
I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, make me aware of my end
and the number of my days
so that I will know how short-lived I am.
5 In fact, you have made my days just inches long,
and my life span is as nothing to you.
Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor. Selah
6 Yes, a person goes about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.
7 “Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
8 Rescue me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.
9 I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what you have done.
10 Remove your torment from me.
Because of the force of your hand I am finished.
11 You discipline a person with punishment for iniquity,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;
yes, every human being is only a vapor. Selah
12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry for help;
do not be silent at my tears.
For I am here with you as an alien,
a temporary resident like all my ancestors.
13 Turn your angry gaze from me
so that I may be cheered up
before I die and am gone.”
Song of Solomon 3
In my bed at night
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but did not find him.
2 I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
3 The guards who go about the city found me.
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love? ”
4 I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house —
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
5 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
Narrator
6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
7 Look! Solomon’s bed
surrounded by sixty warriors
from the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side
to guard against the terror of the night.
9 King Solomon made a carriage for himself
with wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love
by the young women of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, young women of Zion,
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
on the day of his wedding —
the day of his heart’s rejoicing.
Hebrews 3
OUR APOSTLE AND HIGH PRIEST
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.
2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was in all God’s household. 3 For Jesus is considered worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder has more honor than the house. 4 Now every house is built by someone, but the one who built everything is God. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast.
WARNING AGAINST UNBELIEF
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me, tried me,
and saw my works 10 for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked to anger with that generation
and said, “They always go astray in their hearts,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.”
12 Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. 14 For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start. 15 As it is said:
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.
16 For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses? 17 With whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
— Numbers 5, Psalm 39, Song of Solomon 3, Hebrews 3 (CSB)