The Ordeal of Jealousy was a ceremony described in Numbers 5:11–28. This procedure was used when a husband suspected his wife of adultery but had no proof. The process worked like this:
The husband would bring his wife to the priest along with a grain offering. The wife had to take an oath before God. Then she had to drink "bitter" water that was mixed with dust taken from the tabernacle floor. As the woman drank this water, the priest would offer the jealousy offering to God.
If the woman was guilty of adultery, her body would react badly and “her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel” (Numbers 5:27). She would also become cursed among the people. If she was innocent of adultery, nothing bad would happen to her body.