The Daily Audio Bible

Ashes of the Red Cow

19 The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron ² to give the Israelites the following regulations. Bring to Moses and Aaron a red cow which has no defects and which has never been worked, ³ and they will give it to Eleazar the priest. It is to be taken outside the camp and killed in his presence.^{[a] 4} Then Eleazar is to take some of its blood and with his finger sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the Tent. ⁵ The whole animal, including skin, meat, blood, and intestines, is to be burned in the presence of the priest. ⁶ Then he is to take some cedar wood, a sprig of hyssop, and a red cord and throw them into the fire. ⁷ After that, he is to wash his clothes and pour water over himself, and then he may enter the camp; but he remains ritually unclean until evening. ⁸ The one who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and pour water over himself, but he also remains unclean until evening. ^9 (A)Then someone who is ritually clean is to collect the ashes of the cow and put them in a ritually clean place outside the camp, where they are to be kept for the Israelite community to use in preparing the water for removing ritual uncleanness. This ritual is performed to remove sin. ¹⁰ The one who collected the ashes must wash his clothes, but he remains unclean until evening. This regulation is valid for all time to come, both for the Israelites and for the foreigners living among them.

Contact with a Corpse

¹¹ Those who touch a corpse are ritually unclean for seven days. ¹² They must purify themselves with the water for purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on both the third and the seventh day, they will not be clean. ¹³ Those who touch a corpse and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the Lord's Tent, and they will no longer be considered God's people.

¹⁴ In the case of a person who dies in a tent, anyone who is in the tent at the time of death or who enters it becomes ritually unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ Every jar and pot in the tent that has no lid^[b] on it also becomes unclean. ¹⁶ If any touch a person who has been killed or has died a natural death outdoors or if any touch a human bone or a grave, they become unclean for seven days.

¹⁷ To remove the uncleanness, some ashes from the red cow which was burned to remove sin shall be taken and put in a pot, and fresh water added. ¹⁸ In the first case, someone who is ritually clean is to take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, everything in it, and the people who were there. In the second case, someone who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on those who had touched the human bone or the dead body or the grave. ¹⁹ On the third day and on the seventh the person who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on the unclean persons. On the seventh day he is to purify those, who, after washing their clothes and pouring water over themselves, become ritually clean at sunset.

²⁰ Those who have become ritually unclean and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the Lord's Tent and will no longer be considered God's people. ²¹ You are to observe this rule for all time to come. The person who sprinkles the water for purification must also wash his clothes; anyone who touches the water remains ritually unclean until evening. ²² Whatever an unclean person touches is unclean, and anyone else who touches it remains unclean until evening.

Events at Kadesh^(B)

20 In the first month the whole community of Israel came to the wilderness of Zin and camped at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

^2 (C)There was no water where they camped, so the people gathered around Moses and Aaron ³ and complained: “It would have been better if we had died in front of the Lord's Tent along with the other Israelites. ⁴ Why have you brought us out into this wilderness? Just so that we can die here with our animals? ⁵ Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this miserable place where nothing will grow? There's no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates. There is not even any water to drink!” ⁶ Moses and Aaron moved away from the people and stood at the entrance of the Tent. They bowed down with their faces to the ground, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to them.

⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink.” ⁹ Moses went and got the stick, as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁰ He and Aaron assembled the whole community in front of the rock, and Moses said, “Listen, you rebels! Do we have to get water out of this rock for you?” ^11 (D)Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank.

¹² But the Lord reprimanded Moses and Aaron. He said, “Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them.”

¹³ This happened at Meribah,^[c] where the people of Israel complained against the Lord and where he showed them that he is holy.

The King of Edom Refuses to Let Israel Pass

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. They said, “This message is from your kinsmen, the tribes of Israel. You know the hardships we have suffered, ¹⁵ how our ancestors went to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated our ancestors and us, ¹⁶ and we cried to the Lord for help. He heard our cry and sent an angel, who led us out of Egypt. Now we are at Kadesh, a town at the border of your territory. ¹⁷ Please permit us to pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road or go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink from your wells. We will stay on the main road^[d] until we are out of your territory.”

¹⁸ But the Edomites answered, “We refuse to let you pass through our country! If you try, we will march out and attack you.”

¹⁹ The people of Israel said, “We will stay on the main road, and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it—all we want is to pass through.”

²⁰ The Edomites repeated, “We refuse!” and they marched out with a powerful army to attack the people of Israel. ²¹ Because the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through their territory, the Israelites turned and went another way.

The Death of Aaron

²² The whole community of Israel left Kadesh and arrived at Mount Hor, ²³ on the border of Edom. There the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴ “Aaron is not going to enter the land which I promised to give to Israel; he is going to die, because the two of you rebelled against my command at Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor, ²⁶ and there remove Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. Aaron is going to die there.” ²⁷ Moses did what the Lord had commanded. They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community, ^28 (E)and Moses removed Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. There on the top of the mountain Aaron died, and Moses and Eleazar came back down. ²⁹ The whole community learned that Aaron had died, and they all mourned for him for thirty days.

Introduction

1 Dear Theophilus:

Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. ² They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. ³ And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. ⁴ I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

The Birth of John the Baptist Is Announced

^5 (A)During the time when Herod was king of Judea,^[a] there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family. ⁶ They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all the Lord's laws and commands. ⁷ They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.

⁸ One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. ⁹ According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, ¹⁰ while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned. ¹¹ An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. ¹⁴ How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! ^15 (B)John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ^17 (C)He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.”

^19 (D)“I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. ²⁰ But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.”

²¹ In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.

²³ When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home. ²⁴ Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months. ²⁵ “Now at last the Lord has helped me,” she said. “He has taken away my public disgrace!”

^(A)A Prayer of Trust in God^[a]

⁸ The righteous are protected from trouble; it comes to the wicked instead.