Numbers 19

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,

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] a statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee a red cow, a perfect one, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke hath gone up;

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

and ye have given it unto Eleazar the priest, and he hath brought it out unto the outside of the camp, and hath slaughtered it 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.

'And Eleazar the priest hath taken of its blood with his finger, and hath sprinkled over-against the front of the tent of meeting of her blood seven times;

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

and [one] hath burnt the cow before his eyes; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, besides her dung, he doth burn;

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

and the priest hath taken cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and hath cast unto the midst of the burning of the cow;

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 hath washed his garments, and hath bathed his flesh with water, and afterwards doth come in unto the camp, and the priest is unclean till the 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 is burning it doth wash his garments with water, and hath bathed his flesh with water, and is unclean till the 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.

'And a clean man hath gathered the ashes of the cow, and hath placed at the outside of the camp, in a clean place, and it hath become to the company of the sons of Israel a charge for waters of separation — it [is] a [cleansing];

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 is gathering the ashes of the heifer hath washed his garments, and is unclean till the evening; and it hath been to the sons of Israel, and to the sojourner who is sojourning in their midst, for a statute age-during.

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

'He who is coming against the dead body of any man — is unclean 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.

he doth cleanse himself for it on the third day, and on the seventh day he is clean; and if he cleanse not himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he is not 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.

Any one who is coming against the dead, against the body of man who dieth, and cleanseth not himself — the tabernacle of Jehovah he hath defiled, and that person hath been cut off from Israel, for water of separation is not sprinkled upon him; he is unclean; his uncleanness [is] still upon him.

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 a man dieth in a tent: every one who is coming in unto the tent, and all that [is] in the tent, is unclean seven days;

15 Every open container with no cover becomes unclean.

and every open vessel which hath no covering of thread upon it is 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 every one who cometh, on the face of the field, against the pierced of a sword, or against the dead, or against a bone of man, or against a grave, is unclean 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 they have taken for the unclean person of the ashes of the burning of the [cleansing], and he hath put upon it running water unto 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 hath taken hyssop, and hath dipped [it] in water, and hath sprinkled 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.

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.

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

'And the man who is unclean, and doth not cleanse himself, even that person hath been cut off from the midst of the assembly; for the sanctuary of Jehovah he hath defiled; water of separation is not sprinkled upon 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.

'And it hath been to them for a statute age-during, that he who is sprinkling the water of separation doth wash his garments, and he who is coming against the water of separation is unclean till the evening,

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

and all against which the unclean person cometh is unclean, and the person who is coming against [it] is unclean till the evening.'