Numbers 19

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

2 This, is the statute of the law, which Yahweh hath commanded, saying, —Speak unto the sons of Israel—That they bring unto thee a red heifer, without defect wherein is no blemish, and whereupon hath come no yoke.

“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.

3 Then shall ye give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he shall take her forth unto the outside of the camp, and she shall be slain before him;

Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.

4 and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, —and shall sprinkle towards the front of the tent of meeting: of her blood, seven times;

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.

5 and the heifer shall be burned up before his eyes, —her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung shall be burned up.

Then the heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung.

6 Then shall the priest take cedar-wood and hyssop and crimson, —and cast into the midst of the burning up of the heifer.

The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.

7 And the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards come into the camp, —but the priest shall be unclean until the evening,

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.

8 And, he that burneth her, shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, —and be unclean until the evening,

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.

9 Then shall a man that is clean gather up the ashes of the heifer, and put them by, outside the camp, in a clean place, —so shall they be for the assembly of the sons of Israel to keep for water of separation it is a taking away of sin.

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.

10 Then shall he that gathered up the ashes wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening, —so shall it be for the sons of Israel and for the sojourner that sojourneth in your midst by a statute age-abiding.

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.

11 He that toucheth the dead, even any human person, shall be unclean seven days.

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

12 He, shall cleanse himself from sin therewith on the third day, then on the seventh day, shall he be clean, —but if he cleanse not himself from sin on the third day, then on the seventh day, shall he not be clean,

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.

13 Whosoever toucheth the dead the person of the human being that dieth and doth not cleanse himself from sin, the habitation of Yahweh, hath he made unclean; that person therefore shall be cut off out of Israel, —because, the water of separation, was not dashed upon him, unclean, shall he be, his uncleanness is yet upon him.

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.

14 This, is the law—When, a human being, shall die in a tent, every one who goeth into the tent and every one who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

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,

15 And, in the case of every open vessel, on which no cover is fastened, unclean, it is.

and any open container without a lid fastened on it is unclean.

16 And, whosoever toucheth on the face of the field, one slain with a sword, or one who hath died, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

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.

17 And they shall take, for him that is unclean, of the ashes of the burning of the sin-bearer, —and living water shall be put thereon in a vessel,

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.

18 Then shall a man that is clean take hyssop, and dip in the water, and sprinkle upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons who were there, —and upon him that touched the bone or him who had been slain, or him who had died of himself or the grave;

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.

19 and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean, on the third day, and on the seventh day, —so shall he cleanse himself from sin, on the seventh day, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water and be clean in the evening.

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.

20 But in the case of the man who shall be unclean and shall not cleanse himself from sin, that person shall be cut off, out of the midst of the convocation, —for, the sanctuary of Yahweh, hath he made unclean, the water of separation, hath not been dashed upon him unclean, he is.

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.

21 So shall it be unto them for statute age-abiding, —and, he that sprinkleth the water of separation, shall wash his clothes, and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until the evening;

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.

22 and, whatsoever the unclean person toucheth, shall be unclean, —and the person who toucheth it shall be unclean until the evening.

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