< Numbers 19 >

1 The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2 “This is a legal regulation the Lord has ordered, saying, ‘Tell the Israelites to bring you a red cow without defects which has never been yoked.
This is the statute of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee a completely red cow, on which there is no blemish, upon which no yoke hath ever come.
3 Hand it over to Eleazar the priest, and he will take it outside the camp and have it slaughtered before him.
And ye shall give her unto Elazar the priest, and he shall lead her forth to without the camp, and some one shall slay her before his face:
4 Eleazar the priest will put some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
And Elazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger; and he shall sprinkle in the direction of the front of the tabernacle of the congregation of her blood seven times.
5 Then the cow must be burned as he watches All of it is to be burned—its skin, meat, and blood, as well as its excrement.
And some one shall burn the cow before his eyes; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn.
6 The priest shall throw cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson thread on the burning cow.
And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and a scarlet string, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the cow.
7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes and his body in water, and after that he may enter the camp, but he will remain unclean until the evening.
And the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward may he come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.
8 The person who burned the cow shall also wash his clothes and his body in water, and he too will remain unclean until the evening.
And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water; and he shall be unclean until the evening.
9 Then a man who is clean shall collect the ashes of the cow and keep them in a clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelites to prepare the water of purification which is for purifying from sin.
And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of sprinkling: it is a purification-offering.
10 The man who collected the ashes of the cow shall also wash his clothes, and he will remain unclean until the evening. This is a permanent rule for the Israelites and for the foreigner that lives with them.
And he that gathereth up the ashes of the cow shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
11 If you touch a dead body you will be unclean for seven days.
He that toucheth the dead body of any human person shall be unclean seven days.
12 You must purify yourself with the water of purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then you will be clean. But if you don't purify yourself on the third and seventh days, you won't be clean.
Such a one shall purify himself with it on the third day and on the seventh day, when he shall be clean; but if he purify himself not on the third day and on the seventh day, he shall not be clean.
13 If you touch a dead body and don't purify yourself you make the Tabernacle of the Lord unclean and must be expelled from Israel. You are still unclean because the water of purification hasn't been sprinkled on you, and your uncleanness remains.
Whosoever toucheth the dead body, the person of any man that is dead, and purifieth himself not, hath defiled the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of sprinkling was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
14 The following regulation applies when a person dies in a tent. Everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is already in the tent will be unclean for seven days.
This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: Every one that cometh into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
15 Any open container there that doesn't have a closed lid is unclean.
And every open vessel, on which there is not a closely fitting cover, is unclean.
16 If you're out in the open and you touch someone who has been killed by the sword or who has died naturally, or if you touch a human bone or a grave, then you'll be unclean for seven days.
And whosoever toucheth in the open field one that hath been slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17 This is the process for the purification if you are unclean. Take some of the ashes of the burnt offering for purification, and put them in a jar with fresh water.
And they shall take for the unclean person some of the ashes of the burnt purification-offering, and they shall put thereupon running water in a vessel.
18 A man who is clean shall take some hyssop and dip it in the water. Then sprinkle the tent and everything inside it, and everybody who was there. He would also need to sprinkle you if you who touched a bone, or a grave, or someone who has died or has been killed.
And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that have been there, and upon him that hath touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead, or the grave:
19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle you both on the third day and on the seventh day. After you are purified on the seventh day, you must wash your clothes and yourself in water, and that evening you'll be clean.
And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and when he hath purified him on the seventh day, then shall he wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.
20 But if you don't purify yourself, you will be expelled from the Israelites, because you have made the Tabernacle of the Lord unclean. The water of purification hasn't been sprinkled on you, and you remain unclean.
But a man that is unclean, and doth not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation; because the sanctuary of the Lord hath he defiled; the water of sprinkling hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
21 This is a permanent rule for the everyone. The man who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of purification will be unclean until the evening.
And it shall be unto them for a perpetual statute; and he that sprinkleth the water of sprinkling shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of sprinkling shall be unclean until the evening.
22 Anything the unclean person touches will be unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until the evening.”
And whatsoever the unclean person may touch shall be unclean; and the person that toucheth him shall be unclean until the evening.

< Numbers 19 >