This chapter demonstrates the hateful and disgusting manner in which women were treated pursuant to the laws of Yahweh. It shows why the morals of the Bible do not remotely match the morals of modern day civilized society.
First of all, there is absolutely zero tolerance for lepers. They are to be put out of the camp.
If a man suspects that his wife is unfaithful — whether or not she is in reality unfaithful and regardless of what his wife says — the woman faces terrible consequences. She will be taken to the tabernacle and the priest will force her to drink poison water. If she is guilty, "her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people." (The NIV version that Chelev is reading below waters down the effects and does not talk about the rotting thigh.) If she's innocent, she'll be able to bear children.
You can read the entire "laws of jealousies" in the King James version published by Skeptics Annotated. The man is guiltless, no matter what. Apparently, if he is abusive to his wife, it doesn't matter.
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