Numbers 19

The Water of Purification

19The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,H3068H1696H4872H175H5592"Here is another legal requirement commanded by the LORD: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer, a perfect animal that has no defects and has never been yoked to a plow.H2708H8451H3068H6680H559H1696H1121H3478H3947H122H6510H8549H3971H3808H5927H59233Give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.H5414H499H3548H3318H2351H4264H7819H64404Eleazar will take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle

.H499H3548H3947H1818H676H5137H1818H5227H6440H168H4150H7651H64715As Eleazar watches, the heifer must be burned—its hide, meat, blood, and dung.H8313H6510H5869H5785H1320H1818H6569H83136Eleazar the priest must then take a stick of cedar

, a hyssop branch, and some scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire where the heifer is burning.H3548H3947H730H6086H231H8438H8144H7993H8432H8316H65107"Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Afterward he may return to the camp, though he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening.H3548H3526H899H7364H1320H4325H310H935H4264H3548H2930H61538The man who burns the animal must also wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he, too, will remain unclean until evening.H8313H3526H899H4325H7364H1320H4325H2930H61539Then someone who is ceremonially clean will gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them in a purified place outside the camp. They will be kept there for the community of Israel to use in the water for the purification ceremony. This ceremony is performed for the removal of sin.H376H2889H622H665H6510H3240H2351H4264H2889H4725H4931H5712H1121H3478H4325H5079H240310The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel and any foreigners who live among them.H622H665H6510H3526H899H2930H6153H1121H3478H1616H1481H8432H2708H576911"All those who touch a dead human body will be ceremonially unclean for seven days.H5060H4191H5315H120H2930H7651H311712They must purify themselves on the third and seventh days with the water of purification; then they will be purified. But if they do not do this on the third and seventh days, they will continue to be unclean even after the seventh day.H2398H7992H3117H7637H3117H2891H2398H7992H3117H7637H3117H289113All those who touch a dead body and do not purify themselves in the proper way defile the LORD's Tabernacle, and they will be cut off from the community of Israel. Since the water of purification was not sprinkled on them, their defilement continues.H5060H4191H5315H120H4191H2398H2930H4908H3068H5315H3772H3478H4325H5079H2236H2931H293214"This is the ritual law that applies when someone dies inside a tent: All those who enter that tent and those who were inside when the death occurred will be ceremonially unclean for seven days.H8451H120H4191H168H935H168H168H2930H7651H311715Any open container in the tent that was not covered with a lid is also defiled.H6605H3627H6781H6616H293116And if someone in an open field touches the corpse of someone who was killed with a sword or who died a natural death, or if someone touches a human bone or a grave, that person will be defiled for seven days.H5060H2491H2719H6440H7704H4191H6106H120H6913H2930H7651H311717"To remove the defilement, put some of the ashes from the burnt purification offering in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.H2931H3947H6083H8316H2403H2416H4325H5414H362718Then someone who is ceremonially clean must take a hyssop branch and dip it into the water. That person must sprinkle the water on the tent, on all the furnishings in the tent, and on the people who were in the tent; also on the person who touched a human bone, or touched someone who was killed or who died naturally, or touched a grave.H2889H376H3947H231H2881H4325H5137H168H3627H5315H5060H6106H2491H4191H691319On the third and seventh days the person who is ceremonially clean must sprinkle the water on those who are defiled. Then on the seventh day the people being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe themselves, and that evening they will be cleansed of their defilement.H2889H5137H2931H7992H3117H7637H3117H7637H3117H2398H3526H899H7364H4325H2891H615320"But those who become defiled and do not purify themselves will be cut off from the community, for they have defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. Since the water of purification has not been sprinkled on them, they remain defiled.H376H2930H2398H5315H3772H8432H6951H2930H4720H3068H4325H5079H2236H293121This is a permanent law for the people. Those who sprinkle the water of purification must afterward wash their clothes, and anyone who then touches the water used for purification will remain defiled until evening.H5769H2708H5137H4325H5079H3526H899H5060H4325H5079H2930H615322Anything and anyone that a defiled person touches will be ceremonially unclean until evening."H2931H5060H2930H5315H5060H2930H6153