Numbers 19

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

2 “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded. Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no defect, and which was never yoked.

“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.

3 You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face.

Hand it over to Eleazar the priest, and he will take it outside the camp and have it slaughtered before him.

4 Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times.

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.

5 One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her meat, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn.

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.

6 The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer.

The priest shall throw cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson thread on the burning cow.

7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.

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.

8 He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

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.

9 “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for use in water for cleansing impurity. It is a sin offering.

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.

10 He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. It shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.

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.

11 “He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

If you touch a dead body you will be unclean for seven days.

12 He shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he doesn’t purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

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.

13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn’t purify himself, defiles Yahweh’s tabernacle; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet on him.

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.

14 “This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

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.

15 Every open vessel, which has no covering bound on it, is unclean.

Any open container there that doesn't have a closed lid is unclean.

16 “Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

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.

17 “For the unclean, they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be poured on them in a vessel.

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.

18 A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave.

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.

19 The clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, he shall purify him. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.

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.

20 But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean.

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.

21 It shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

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.

22 “Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

Anything the unclean person touches will be unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until the evening.”