Numbers 19

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and to Aaron, saying,

Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

2 This is the ordinance of the lawe, which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speake vnto the children of Israel that they bring thee a red kow without blemish, wherein is no spot, vpon the which neuer came yoke.

“I am now giving to you another regulation. Tell the Israeli people to bring to you one reddish-brown cow that has no defects. It must be an animal that (has never been/no one has ever) used for plowing ground.

3 And ye shall giue her vnto Eleazar ye Priest, that hee may bring her without the hoste, and cause her to be slaine before his face.

Give it to Eleazar, the priest. He must take it outside the camp and slaughter it [and drain the blood in a basin].

4 Then shall Eleazar the Priest take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle it before the Tabernacle of the Congregation seuen times,

He must dip one of his fingers in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times [on the ground] near the Sacred Tent.

5 And cause the kow to be burnt in his sight: with her skinne, and her flesh, and her blood, and her doung shall he burne her.

Then, while Eleazar watches, the cow must be burned completely—its hide, its meat, [the rest of] its blood, and even its dung.

6 Then shall the Priest take cedar wood, and hyssope and skarlet lace, and cast them in the mids of the fire where the kow burneth.

Eliezer then must take a stick of cedar wood, a stalk of [a plant named] hyssop, and some scarlet/red yarn, and throw them into the fire where the cow is burning.

7 Then shall the Priest wash his clothes, and he shall wash his flesh in water, and then come into the hoste, and the Priest shalbe vncleane vnto the euen.

“Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe. After doing that, he may return to the camp. But he will be unfit for doing any sacred work until that evening.

8 Also he that burneth her, shall wash his clothes in water, and wash his flesh in water, and be vncleane vntill euen.

The man who burns the cow must also wash his clothes and bathe, and he will also be unacceptable to me until that evening.

9 And a man, that is cleane, shall take vp the ashes of the kow, and put them without the hoste in a cleane place: and it shalbe kept for the Congregation of the children of Israel for a sprinkling water: it is a sinne offring.

“Then someone who has not become unacceptable to me must gather up the ashes of the cow and put them in a (sacred place/place that is acceptable to me) outside the camp. The ashes must be kept there for the people of Israel to [use when they] mix it with water for the ritual to remove the guilt of sin.

10 Therefore he that gathereth the ashes of the kow, shall wash his clothes, and remaine vncleane vntil euen: and it shalbe vnto the children of Israel, and vnto the stranger that dwelleth among them, a statute for euer.

The man who gathers up the ashes of the cow must [also] wash his clothes, and he [also] will be unfit to do any more sacred work until that evening. That is a regulation that will never be changed. It must be obeyed by you Israeli people and by any foreigners who live among you.

11 Hee that toucheth the dead body of any man, shalbe vncleane euen seuen dayes.

“All those who touch a corpse will be unacceptable to me for seven days.

12 Hee shall purifie himselfe therewith the third day, and the seuenth day he shall be cleane: but if he purifie not himselfe the thirde day, then the seuenth day he shall not be cleane.

On the third day and on the seventh day [after touching a corpse], in order to become acceptable to me again, [they must have sprinkled on them] some of that water for removing the guilt of their sin. If they do not do that on both of those days, they will continue to be unacceptable to me.

13 Whosoeuer toucheth ye corps of any man that is dead, and purgeth not himselfe, defileth the Tabernacle of the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from Israel, because the sprinkling water was not sprinkled vpon him: he shall be vncleane, and his vncleannesse shall remaine still vpon him.

All those who touch a corpse, and do not perform in the correct way the ritual to become acceptable to me again, defile Yahweh’s Sacred Tent. They will no longer be permitted to live among the Israeli people. The water to remove the guilt of sin was not sprinkled on them, so they continue to be unacceptable to me.

14 This is the law, Whe a man dieth in a tent, all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shalbe vncleane seuen dayes,

“There is another ritual that must be performed when someone dies inside a tent. All those who were inside that tent when that person died or who enter that tent will be unacceptable to me for seven days.

15 And all the vessels that bee open, which haue no couering fastened vpon them, shall be vncleane.

Any jars that are inside that tent that are not covered are not permitted to be used.

16 Also whosoeuer toucheth one that is slaine with a sworde in the fielde, or a dead person, or a bone of a dead man, or a graue, shall be vncleane seuen dayes.

If someone who is out in a field touches the corpse of someone who was murdered, or who died from natural causes, or if someone touches a bone from some human or touches a grave, that person will be unacceptable to me for seven days.

17 Therfore for an vncleane person they shall take of the burnt ashes of the sinne offring, and pure water shalbe put thereto in a vessel.

“For someone like that to become acceptable to me again, some of the ashes from [the cow] that was burned must be taken and put in a jar. Then some fresh water must be poured over the ashes.

18 And a cleane person shall take hyssope and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it vpon the tent, and vpon all the vessels, and on the persons that were therein, and vpon him that touched ye bone, or the slayne, or the dead, or the graue.

Then someone who is still acceptable to me must take a stalk of [a plant named] hyssop and dip it into the water. Then that person must sprinkle some of the water on the tent where that person died, on the things that are in the tent, and on the people who were in the tent. He must also sprinkle some of that water on any person who touched a human bone or who touched a person who died, or who touched a grave.

19 And the cleane person shall sprinkle vpon the vncleane the third day, and the seuenth day, and hee shall purifie him selfe the seuenth day, and wash his clothes, and wash himself in water, and shalbe cleane at euen.

On the third day and on the seventh day after that, the person who is acceptable to me must sprinkle some of that water on those who have become unacceptable to me. On the seventh day, the people who are performing that ritual to become acceptable to me again must wash their clothes and bathe. If they do that, on that evening they will become acceptable to me again.

20 But the man that is vncleane and purifieth not himselfe, that person shalbe cut off from among the Congregation, because hee hath defiled the Sanctuarie of the Lord: and the sprinkling water hath not bene sprinkled vpon him: therefore shall he be vncleane.

“If those who have become unacceptable to me do not become acceptable to me again by doing this, they will no longer be permitted to live among the Israeli people, because they have defiled my Sacred Tent. They did not sprinkle on themselves the water that removes the guilt of their sins, so they remain unacceptable to me.

21 And it shalbe a perpetual lawe vnto them, that he that sprinkleth the sprinkling water, shall wash his clothes: also hee that toucheth the sprinkling water, shalbe vncleane vntill euen.

That is a law for the Israeli people that will never be changed. Those who sprinkle that water on themselves must then wash their clothes. And anyone who touches that water which removes guilt for sins will remain unacceptable to God until that evening.

22 And whatsoeuer the vncleane person toucheth, shall be vncleane: and the person that toucheth him, shalbe vncleane vntill the euen.

“If someone touches a thing or a person that has become unacceptable to me, that person will remain unacceptable to me until that evening.”