She hardly finishes drinking before her face becomes sallow, her eyes bulge and her veins protrude. And they call out: “Take her out! (Take her out!)” so that she will not contaminate the [Temple] Courtyard with tumah.  If she had any merit, it held her [punishment] in abeyance. Certain merits hold [the punishment] in abeyance for one year, others hold [it] in abey-ance for two years, others hold [it] in abeyance for three years. Based on this Ben Azzai says; A man should teach his daugh-ter Torah, so that if she ever drinks she will realize that merit can hold her [punishment] in abeyance. R’ Eliezer says: Who-ever teaches his daughter Torah, it is as though he teaches her sensuality. R’ Yehoshua says: A woman prefers one measure with sensuality than nine measures with chastity.  He used to say: A foolish saint, a cuning evildoer, an abstinent woman, and the wounds of the pious, these are the ruin of [the] world.

R’ Shimon says: Merit does not hold [the punishment of] the bitter waters in abeyance. For if you say that merit does hold [the punishment] of the curse-causing waters in abeyance, you diminish [the aura of] the waters in [the minds of] all the women who [must] drink, and you defame all the undefiled [women] who have drunk, because it will be said that they were defiled but merit held their punishment in abeyance. Rabbi says: Merit holds [the punishment of] the curse-causing waters in abeyance, but she does not bear children or continue to thrive, but wastes away by degrees; [and] in the end she dies that death.

[If] her minchah-offering became tamei before it was sanctified in a [service] vessel —- it is like all other minchah-offerings, and it may be redeemed; but if after it was sanctified in a [service-] vessel —- it is like all other minchah-offerings, and it must be burned.  These are the ones whose minchah-offerings must be burned: One who says, “I am defiled to you,” or about whom witnesses testify that she is defiled; or one who says, “I will not drink,” or whose husband does not want to give her to drink; or whose husband cohabited with her on the way. The minchah-offerings of all who are married to Kohanim must be burned.

[If] the daughter of a non-Kohen married a Kohen, her minchah-offering must be burned; but [if] the daughter of a Kohen married a non-Kohen, her minchah-offering is eaten.  How does a Kohen differ from the daughter of a Kohen? The minchah-offering of a Kohen’s daughter is eaten, [while] the minchah-offering of a Kohen is not eaten; a Kohen’s daughter can be disentitled, but a Kohen cannot be disentitled; a Kohen’s daughter may contaminate herself with the tumah of the dead, but a Kohen may not contaminate himself with the tumah of the dead; a Kohen may eat of the most holy offerings, but the daughter of a Kohen may not eat of the most holy offerings.

How does a man differ from a woman? A man [who is a metzora] must allow his hair to grow and must rend his garments, but a woman need not let her hair grow or rend her garments; a man can impose the vow of nezirus on his son, but a wom-an cannot impose the vow of nezirus on her son; a man can shave his head [at the conclusion of his nezirus] on the basis of the nezirus [offerings] of his father, but a woman cannot shave her head on the basis of the nezirus [offerings] of her father; a man can sell his daughter, but a woman cannot sell her daughter; a man can betroth his daughter, but a woman cannot betroth her daughter; a man is stoned naked, but a woman is not stoned naked; a man’s [body] is hung, but a woman’s [body] is not hung; a man can be sold for his theft, but a woman cannot be sold for her theft.

A betrothed woman and a woman awaiting yibum neither drink nor do they receive [payment for] their marriage contract, as it is said: When a woman strays from under [the authority of] her husband —- to the exclusion of a betrothed woman and a woman awaiting yibum. A widow [married] to a Kohen Gadol, a divorcee or a woman who received chalitzah [married] to an ordinary Kohen, a mamzeress or a Nesinite [married] to an Israelite and an Israelite daughter [married] to a mamzer or Nesinite —- [these] neither drink nor receive [payment for] their marriage contract.

The following [women also] neither drink nor receive [payment for] their marriage contract: One who says, “I am defiled,” and one about whom witnesses testify that she is defiled, and one who says, “I will not drink.» [But] one whose husband said, “I will not give her to drink,” and one whose husband cohabited with her on the way, receives payment for her mar-riage contract but does not drink.  [If] their husbands died before they were able to drink —- Beis Shammai say: They receive [payment for] their marriage contract but do not drink. But Beis Hillel say: They neither drink nor receive [pay-ment for] their marriage contract.

A woman pregnant by a previous husband and a woman nursing her child by a previous husband neither drink nor receive [payment for] their marriage contract; these are the word of R’ Meir. [But] the Sages say: He can separate from her and take her back after a period of time. A sterile woman, or an old woman, or a woman who cannot bear children, neither drink nor receive [payment for] their marriage contract. R’ Eliezer says: He can marry another woman and be fruitful and multiply from her. All other women either drink or [they] do not receive [payment for] their marriage contract.

The wife of a Kohen may drink, and she is [then] permitted [to return] to her husband. The wife of a sterile man may drink. A warning can be issued [even] in respect to all those forbidden in marriage by reason of kinship, with the exception of a minor and one that is not human.

The following are [the women] to whom the courts give warning: One whose husband has become a deaf-mute or mentally incompetent, or [who] has been incarcerated in a prison. They did not say this [in regard] to giving her to drink but only [in regard] to disqualifying her from [receiving payment for her] marriage contract. R’ Yose says: Even [in regard] to giving her to drink —- so that when her husband comes out of prison he will give her to drink.

Just as the waters test her, so the waters test him, as it is stated: And they shall enter (v. 22), and they shall enter (v. 27). Just as she is prohibited to the husband, so she is prohibited to the adulterer, as it is said: become defiled (v. 27), and be defiled (v. 29); these are the words of R’ Akiva. R’ Yehoshua said: So did Zechariah ben Hakatzav expound. Rabbi says: The two men-tions in the passage [of], if she had become defiled, be defiled —- one is [in regard] to the husband and the other is [in re-gard] to the adulterer.

On that day R’ Akiva expounded: And any earthenware utensil into which any of them falls, whatever is in it shall become tamei (Lev. 11:33) —- it does not say “tamei,” but rather “yitma” —- [even] to render others tamei. This teaches that a loaf which is of a sheni [degree of tumah] can make a shlishi [degree of tumah]. R’ Yehoshua said: Who will remove the dust from your eyes, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai! —- for you used to say that a future generation would [pro- nounce] tahor a loaf that was [contaminated as] a shlishi, since there is no verse in the Torah that it is tamei. But [now] does not Akiva your disciple adduce a verse from the Torah that it is tamei, as it is said: Whatever is in it shall be tamei.

On that day R’ Akiva expounded: And you shall measure from outside the city, the east side —- two thousand cubits, etc. (Numbers 35:5). But another verse states: From the wall of the city and outward, one thousand cubits round about (Num-bers 35:4). It is impossible to say one thousand cubits, since it already says two thousand cubits; and it is impossible to say two thousand cubits, since it already says one thousand cubits. How do we resolve this? [The] one thousand cubits [are] a clearing, while [the] two thousand cubits [are] the Sabbath boundary. R’ Eliezer the son of R’ Yose HaGlili says: [The] one thousand cubits [are] a clearing, while the second thousand cubits [are for] fields and vineyards.