Numbers 19

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,

2 “This [is] a statute of the law which YHWH has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and they bring a red cow to you, a perfect one, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke has gone up;

“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.

3 and you have given it to Eleazar the priest, and he has brought it out to the outside of the camp, and has slaughtered it before him.

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

4 And Eleazar the priest has taken of its blood with his finger, and has sprinkled [it] toward the front of the face of the Tent of Meeting from its blood seven times;

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.

5 and [one] has burned the cow before his eyes; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, besides her dung, he burns;

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

6 and the priest has taken cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and has cast [them] into the midst of the burning of the cow;

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

7 and the priest has washed his garments, and has bathed his flesh with water, and afterward comes into the camp, and the priest is unclean until the evening;

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.

8 and he who is burning it washes his garments with water, and has bathed his flesh with water, and is unclean until the evening.

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

9 And a clean man has gathered the ashes of the cow, and has placed [them] at the outside of the camp in a clean place, and it has become a charge for the congregation of the sons of Israel for waters of separation—it [is for] sin;

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.

10 and he who is gathering the ashes of the heifer has washed his garments and is unclean until the evening; and it has been to the sons of Israel and to the sojourner who is sojourning in their midst for a continuous statute.

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.

11 He who is coming against the dead body of any man is unclean [for] seven days;

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

12 he cleanses himself for it on the third day and on the seventh day, [and] he is clean; and if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he is not clean.

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.

13 Anyone who is coming against the dead, against the body of man who dies, and does not cleanse himself, he has defiled the Dwelling Place of YHWH, and that person has been cut off from Israel, for water of separation is not sprinkled on him; he is unclean; his uncleanness [is] still on him.

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.

14 This [is] the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who is coming into the tent and all that [is] in the tent are unclean [for] seven days;

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.

15 and every open vessel which has no covering of thread on it is unclean.

Every open container with no cover becomes unclean.

16 And everyone on the face of the field who comes against the pierced of a sword, or against the dead, or against a bone of man, or against a grave, is unclean [for] seven days;

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.

17 and for the unclean person they have taken from the ashes of the burning of the [cow], and he has put running water over it into a vessel;

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

18 and a clean person has taken hyssop, and has dipped [it] in water, and has sprinkled [it] on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the persons who have been there, and on him who is coming against a bone, or against one pierced, or against the dead, or against a grave.

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.

19 And the clean has sprinkled [it] on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day, and has cleansed him on the seventh day, and he has washed his garments, and has bathed with water, and has been clean in the evening.

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.

20 And the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, indeed, that person has been cut off from the midst of the assembly; for he has defiled the sanctuary of YHWH; water of separation is not sprinkled on him; he [is] unclean.

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.

21 And it has been for a continuous statute to them, that he who is sprinkling the water of separation washes his garments, and he who is coming against the water of separation is unclean until the evening,

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.

22 and all against which the unclean person comes is unclean, and the person who is coming against [it] is unclean until the evening.”

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