Numbers 19

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

2 “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.

This is the rule of the law which the Lord has made, saying, Give orders to the children of Israel to give you a red cow without any mark on her, and on which the yoke has never been put:

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

Give her to Eleazar the priest and let him take her outside the tent-circle and have her put to death before him.

4 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.

Then let Eleazar the priest take some of her blood on his finger, shaking the blood seven times in the direction of the front of the Tent of meeting:

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

And the cow is to be burned before him, her skin and her flesh and her blood and her waste are to be burned:

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

Then let the priest take cedar-wood and hyssop and red thread, and put them into the fire where the cow is burning.

7 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.

And the priest, after washing his clothing and bathing his body in water, may come back to the tent-circle, and will be unclean till evening.

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

And he who does the burning is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening.

9 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.

Then let a man who is clean take the dust of the burned cow and put it outside the tent-circle in a clean place, where it is to be kept for the children of Israel and used in making the water which takes away what is unclean: it is a sin-offering.

10 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.

And he who takes up the dust of the burned cow is to have his clothing washed with water and be unclean till evening: this is to be a law for ever, for the children of Israel as well as for the man from another country who is living among them.

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

Anyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days:

12 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.

On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

13 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.

Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged.

14 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.

This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days.

15 Every open container with no cover becomes unclean.

And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean.

16 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.

And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man's bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days.

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

And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel:

18 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.

And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched.

19 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.

Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening.

20 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.

But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean.

21 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.

This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.

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

Anything touched by the unclean person will be unclean; and any person touching it will be unclean till evening.