¹³ For if ^(A)the blood of bulls and goats and ^(B)the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, ^[a]sanctifies for the ^[b]purifying of the flesh,

² “This is the ^[a]ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without ^[b]blemish, in which there is no ^(A)defect ^(B)and on which a yoke has never come. ³ You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it ^(C)outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; ⁴ and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and ^(D)sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁵ Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: ^(E)its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned. ⁶ And the priest shall take ^(F)cedar wood and ^(G)hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. ^7 (H)Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening. ⁸ And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. ⁹ Then a man who is clean shall gather up ^(I)the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel ^(J)for the water of ^[c]purification; it is for purifying from sin. ¹⁰ And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.

^11 (K)‘He who touches the dead ^[d]body of anyone shall be unclean seven days. ^12 (L)He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. ¹³ Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and ^(M)does not purify himself, ^(N)defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because ^(O)the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; ^(P)his uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴ ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days; ¹⁵ and every ^(Q)open vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean. ^16 (R)Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁷ ‘And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ^(S)ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and ^[e]running water shall be put on them in a vessel. ¹⁸ A clean person shall take ^(T)hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave. ¹⁹ The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; ^(U)and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean.

²⁰ ‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has ^(V)defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. ²¹ It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.

^9 (A)and made no distinction between us and them, ^(B)purifying their hearts by faith.

The Enduring Word

²² Since you ^(A)have purified your souls in obeying the truth ^[a]through the Spirit in ^[b]sincere ^(B)love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

^14 (A)He shall take some of the blood of the bull and ^(B)sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

^15 (C)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood ^(D)inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. ¹⁶ So he shall ^(E)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

¹⁹ who ^(A)prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.”

⁷ Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle ^(A)water of purification on them, and ^(B)let^[a] them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.