Numbers 19

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

2 This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without blemish, wherein is no defect, and upon which never came yoke;

“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 and ye shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp, and one shall slaughter it before him.

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

4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and shall sprinkle of its blood directly before 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 And one shall burn the heifer before his eyes; its skin and its flesh, and its blood, with its 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 And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

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

7 And the priest shall wash his garments, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards he shall come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until the even;

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 and he that hath burned it shall wash his garments in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.

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 And a clean man shall gather the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

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 And he that hath gathered the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. And it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, an everlasting statute.

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 that toucheth a dead person, any dead body of a 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 it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he purify not 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 toucheth a dead person, the dead body of a man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; for the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him: he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon 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 dieth in a tent: every one that cometh into the tent, and all that 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 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, shall be unclean.

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

16 And every one that toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead person, or the 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 And they shall take for the unclean of the ashes of the purification-offering that hath been burned, and shall put running water thereon 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 and a clean man shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and upon all the utensils, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that hath touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead person, 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 and the clean shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day; and he shall purify him on the seventh day; and he shall wash his garments, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

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 And the man that is unclean, and doth not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the congregation, for he hath defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah: the water of separation hath 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 And it shall be an everlasting statute unto them. And he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his garments, and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.

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 And whatever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

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