Numbers 19

1 Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

And Yahweh spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

2 “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.

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.

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

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;

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

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;

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

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.

6 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.

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

7 “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.

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,

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

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

9 “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.

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.

10 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.

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.

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

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

12 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.

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,

13 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.

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.

14 “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.

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.

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

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

16 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.

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.

17 “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.

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,

18 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.

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;

19 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.

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.

20 “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.

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.

21 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.

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;

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

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