Numbers 19
Lexham English Bible
Ashes of the Red Heifer
19 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the decree of the law that Yahweh has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the Israelites[a] and let them take to you a red heifer without a physical defect, on which a yoke has not been placed.[b] 3 And you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be brought[c] out to a place outside the camp, and it will be slaughtered[d] in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest will take some of its blood on his finger and spatter it toward the mouth of the tent of assembly seven times. 5 The heifer will be burned[e] in his sight; its skin, its meat, and its blood, in addition to its offal, will burn. 6 The priest will take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson thread, and he will throw them in the midst of the burning heifer.[f] 7 The priest will wash his garments and his body in the water, and afterward he will come to the camp; the priest will be unclean until the evening. 8 The one who burns it will wash his garments and his body in water; he will be unclean until the evening. 9 A clean man will gather the ashes of the heifer, and he will put them in a clean place outside the camp;[g] it will be for the community of the Israelites[h] as a requirement for waters of impurity; it is a purification offering. 10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his garments; he will be unclean until evening. It will be an eternal decree for the Israelites[i] and for one who dwells as an alien in their midst.
11 “‘The one who touches a corpse of any person[j] will be unclean for seven days. 12 He will purify himself on the third day, and on the seventh day he will be clean. If he does not purify himself on the third day, he will not be clean on the seventh day. 13 Anyone who touches a corpse, the person of a human being who died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahweh, and that person will be cut off from Israel because the waters of impurity were not sprinkled on him. He will still be unclean, and uncleanness is on him.
14 “‘This is the law of a person who dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be unclean seven days. 15 Every container that is opened that does not have a lid cord[k] on it is unclean. 16 Anyone in the open field[l] who touches one who has been slain,[m] or a corpse, or a bone of a person, or a burial site, he will be unclean for seven days. 17 For the unclean person they will take[n] from the powder of the burnt purification offering,[o] and they will put[p] running water into a container. 18 A clean person will take hyssop and dip it into the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the objects and persons who were there, and on one who touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead, or the burial site. 19 The clean person will spatter the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he will purify him, and he will wash his garments; he will bathe in the waters, and in the evening he will be clean. 20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the midst of the assembly because he defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh; the water of impurity was not sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
21 “‘It will be an eternal decree for them. The one who spatters the waters of impurity will wash his garments, and the one who touches the waters of impurity will be unclean until the evening. 22 Anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until the evening.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 19:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 19:2 Literally “has not gone up”
- Numbers 19:3 Or “he will bring it out”
- Numbers 19:3 Or “he will slaughter it”
- Numbers 19:5 Hebrew “The heifer will burn”
- Numbers 19:6 Literally “the burning of the heifer”
- Numbers 19:9 Literally “an outside place of the camp”
- Numbers 19:9 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 19:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 19:11 Literally “any human person”
- Numbers 19:15 That is, “that does not have a lid tied shut”
- Numbers 19:16 Literally “upon the face of a field”
- Numbers 19:16 Literally “the dead of sword”
- Numbers 19:17 Hebrew “he will take”
- Numbers 19:17 Or “burning of the sin offering”
- Numbers 19:17 Hebrew “he will put”
Numbers 19
New Living Translation
The Water of Purification
19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “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. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Eleazar will take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle.[a] 5 As Eleazar watches, the heifer must be burned—its hide, meat, blood, and dung. 6 Eleazar the priest must then take a stick of cedar,[b] a hyssop branch, and some scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire where the heifer is burning.
7 “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. 8 The man who burns the animal must also wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he, too, will remain unclean until evening. 9 Then 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. 10 The 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.
11 “All those who touch a dead human body will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. 12 They 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. 13 All 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.
14 “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. 15 Any open container in the tent that was not covered with a lid is also defiled. 16 And 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.
17 “To remove the defilement, put some of the ashes from the burnt purification offering in a jar, and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then 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. 19 On 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.
20 “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. 21 This 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. 22 Anything and anyone that a defiled person touches will be ceremonially unclean until evening.”
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