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Numbers 19-20
New International Version
Numbers 19-20
New International Version
The Water of Cleansing
19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer(A) without defect or blemish(B) and that has never been under a yoke.(C) 3 Give it to Eleazar(D) the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp(E) and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle(F) it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines.(G) 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop(H) and scarlet wool(I) and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water.(J) He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
9 “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer(K) and put them in a ceremonially clean place(L) outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing;(M) it is for purification from sin.(N) 10 The man who gathers up(O) the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening.(P) This will be a lasting ordinance(Q) both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.(R)
11 “Whoever touches a human corpse(S) will be unclean for seven days.(T) 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day;(U) then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean.(V) 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse,(W) they defile the Lord’s tabernacle.(X) They must be cut off from Israel.(Y) Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean;(Z) their uncleanness remains on them.
14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container(AA) without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death,(AB) or anyone who touches a human bone(AC) or a grave,(AD) will be unclean for seven days.(AE)
17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes(AF) from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water(AG) over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop,(AH) dip it in the water and sprinkle(AI) the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave(AJ) or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle(AK) those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them.(AL) Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes(AM) and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled(AN) the sanctuary of the Lord.(AO) The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean.(AP) 21 This is a lasting ordinance(AQ) for them.
“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22 Anything that an unclean(AR) person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
Water From the Rock
20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin,(AS) and they stayed at Kadesh.(AT) There Miriam(AU) died and was buried.
2 Now there was no water(AV) for the community,(AW) and the people gathered in opposition(AX) to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled(AY) with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead(AZ) before the Lord!(BA) 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,(BB) that we and our livestock should die here?(BC) 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.(BD) And there is no water to drink!(BE)”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting(BF) and fell facedown,(BG) and the glory of the Lord(BH) appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff,(BI) and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.(BJ) You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff(BK) from the Lord’s presence,(BL) just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together(BM) in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”(BN) 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water(BO) gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy(BP) in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”(BQ)
13 These were the waters of Meribah,[a](BR) where the Israelites quarreled(BS) with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.(BT)
Edom Denies Israel Passage
14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh(BU) to the king of Edom,(BV) saying:
“This is what your brother Israel says: You know(BW) about all the hardships(BX) that have come on us. 15 Our ancestors went down into Egypt,(BY) and we lived there many years.(BZ) The Egyptians mistreated(CA) us and our ancestors, 16 but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry(CB) and sent an angel(CC) and brought us out of Egypt.(CD)
“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.(CE) 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.(CF)”
18 But Edom(CG) answered:
“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.(CH)”
19 The Israelites replied:
“We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock(CI) drink any of your water, we will pay for it.(CJ) We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”
20 Again they answered:
“You may not pass through.(CK)”
Then Edom(CL) came out against them with a large and powerful army. 21 Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory,(CM) Israel turned away from them.(CN)
The Death of Aaron
22 The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh(CO) and came to Mount Hor.(CP) 23 At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom,(CQ) the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people.(CR) He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command(CS) at the waters of Meribah.(CT) 25 Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.(CU) 26 Remove Aaron’s garments(CV) and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people;(CW) he will die there.”
27 Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor(CX) in the sight of the whole community. 28 Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar.(CY) And Aaron died there(CZ) on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, 29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died,(DA) all the Israelites mourned for him(DB) thirty days.
Footnotes
- Numbers 20:13 Meribah means quarreling.
Numbers 19-20
King James Version
Numbers 19-20
King James Version
19 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2 This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:
3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:
4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:
5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
14 This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
16 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17 And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:
18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
22 And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
20 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.
7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
16 And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.
19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet.
20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
22 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.
23 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,
24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.
25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:
26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
27 And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
New International Version (NIV) 
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