< Numbers 19 >
1 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2 “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.
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 Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
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 is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front 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 heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung.
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 is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.
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 must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may enter the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean until 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 one who burned the heifer must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he too will be ceremonially unclean until 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 ceremonially clean is to gather up the ashes of the heifer and store them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept by the congregation of Israel for preparing the water of purification; this is for purification 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 has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among 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 Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
He that toucheth the dead body of any human person shall be unclean seven days.
12 He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not 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 Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him.
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 This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone 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 and any open container without a lid fastened on it is unclean.
And every open vessel, on which there is not a closely fitting cover, is unclean.
16 Anyone in the open field who touches someone who has been killed by the sword or has died of natural causes, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will 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 For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.
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 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain.
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 ceremonially clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. After he purifies the unclean person on the seventh day, the one being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and that evening he will 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 a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is 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 statute for the people: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water of purification will be unclean until 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 become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”
And whatsoever the unclean person may touch shall be unclean; and the person that toucheth him shall be unclean until the evening.