Numbers 19

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,

And Yahweh spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

2 “This is a statute, a law which I am commanding you: Say to the people of Israel that they must bring to you a red heifer without flaw or blemish, and which has never carried a yoke.

This, is the statute of the law, which Yahweh hath commanded, saying, —Speak unto the sons of Israel—That they bring unto thee a red heifer, without defect wherein is no blemish, and whereupon hath come no yoke.

3 Give the heifer to Eleazar the priest. He must bring it outside the camp, and someone must kill it in front of him.

Then shall ye give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he shall take her forth unto the outside of the camp, and she shall be slain before him;

4 Eleazar the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting.

and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, —and shall sprinkle towards the front of the tent of meeting: of her blood, seven times;

5 Another priest must burn the heifer in his sight. He must burn its hide, flesh, and its blood with its dung.

and the heifer shall be burned up before his eyes, —her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung shall be burned up.

6 The priest must take cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet wool, and throw it all into the middle of the burning heifer.

Then shall the priest take cedar-wood and hyssop and crimson, —and cast into the midst of the burning up of the heifer.

7 Then he must wash his clothes and bathe in water. Then he may come into the camp, where he will remain unclean until the evening.

And the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards come into the camp, —but the priest shall be unclean until the evening,

8 The one who has burned the heifer must wash his clothes in water and bathe in water. He will remain unclean until the evening.

And, he that burneth her, shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, —and be unclean until the evening,

9 Someone who is clean must gather up the heifer's ashes and put them outside the camp in a clean place. These ashes must be kept for the community of the people of Israel. They will mix the ashes with water for purification from sin, since the ashes were from a sin offering.

Then shall a man that is clean gather up the ashes of the heifer, and put them by, outside the camp, in a clean place, —so shall they be for the assembly of the sons of Israel to keep for water of separation it is a taking away of sin.

10 The one who gathered the heifer's ashes must wash his clothes. He will remain unclean until the evening. This will be a permanent law for the people of Israel and the foreigners who stay with them.

Then shall he that gathered up the ashes wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening, —so shall it be for the sons of Israel and for the sojourner that sojourneth in your midst by a statute age-abiding.

11 Whoever touches the dead body of any man will be unclean for seven days.

He that toucheth the dead, even any human person, shall be unclean seven days.

12 Such a person must purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day. Then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself the third day, then he will not be clean on the seventh day.

He, shall cleanse himself from sin therewith on the third day, then on the seventh day, shall he be clean, —but if he cleanse not himself from sin on the third day, then on the seventh day, shall he not be clean,

13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself—this person defiles Yahweh's tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him. He will remain unclean; his uncleanness will remain on him.

Whosoever toucheth the dead the person of the human being that dieth and doth not cleanse himself from sin, the habitation of Yahweh, hath he made unclean; that person therefore shall be cut off out of Israel, —because, the water of separation, was not dashed upon him, unclean, shall he be, his uncleanness is yet upon him.

14 This is the law for when someone dies in a tent. Everyone who goes into the tent and everyone who is already in the tent will be unclean for seven days.

This, is the law—When, a human being, shall die in a tent, every one who goeth into the tent and every one who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

15 Every open container with no cover becomes unclean.

And, in the case of every open vessel, on which no cover is fastened, unclean, it is.

16 Similarly, anyone outside a tent who touches someone who has been killed with a sword, any other dead body, a human bone, or a grave—that person will be unclean for seven days.

And, whosoever toucheth on the face of the field, one slain with a sword, or one who hath died, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

17 Do this for the unclean person: Take some ashes from the burnt sin offering and mix them in a jar with fresh water.

And they shall take, for him that is unclean, of the ashes of the burning of the sin-bearer, —and living water shall be put thereon in a vessel,

18 Someone who is clean must then take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the containers inside the tent, on the persons who were there, and on anyone who touched the bone, the one who was killed, the one who died, or the grave.

Then shall a man that is clean take hyssop, and dip in the water, and sprinkle upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons who were there, —and upon him that touched the bone or him who had been slain, or him who had died of himself or the grave;

19 On the third day and on the seventh day, the clean person must sprinkle the unclean person. On the seventh day the unclean person must purify himself. He must wash his clothes and bathe in water. At evening he will become clean.

and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean, on the third day, and on the seventh day, —so shall he cleanse himself from sin, on the seventh day, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water and be clean in the evening.

20 But anyone who remains unclean, who refuses to purify himself—that person will be cut off from the community, because he has defiled Yahweh's sanctuary. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he remains unclean.

But in the case of the man who shall be unclean and shall not cleanse himself from sin, that person shall be cut off, out of the midst of the convocation, —for, the sanctuary of Yahweh, hath he made unclean, the water of separation, hath not been dashed upon him unclean, he is.

21 This will be an ongoing law concerning these situations. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity must wash his clothes. The one who touches the water for impurity will become unclean until evening.

So shall it be unto them for statute age-abiding, —and, he that sprinkleth the water of separation, shall wash his clothes, and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until the evening;

22 Whatever the unclean person touches will become unclean. The person who touches it will become unclean until evening.”

and, whatsoever the unclean person toucheth, shall be unclean, —and the person who toucheth it shall be unclean until the evening.