New Living Translation

New King James Version

The Water of Purification

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

Laws of Purification

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

“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.

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“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 defect and on which a yoke has never come.

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Give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.

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You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him;

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Eleazar will take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle.a

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and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting.

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As Eleazar watches, the heifer must be burned — its hide, meat, blood, and dung.

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Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned.

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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.

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And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.

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“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.

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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.

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The man who burns the animal must also wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he, too, will remain unclean until evening.

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And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening.

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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.

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Then a man who is clean shall gather up 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 for the water of [c]purification; it is for purifying from sin.

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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.

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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.

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“All those who touch a dead human body will be ceremonially unclean for seven days.

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‘He who touches the dead [d]body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.

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“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.

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‘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;

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Any open container in the tent that was not covered with a lid is also defiled.

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and every open vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean.

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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.

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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.

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“To remove the defilement, put some of the ashes from the burnt purification offering in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.

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‘And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and [e]running water shall be put on them in a vessel.

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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.

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A clean person shall take 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.

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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.

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The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean.

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“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.

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‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

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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.

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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.

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Anything and anyone that a defiled person touches will be ceremonially unclean until evening.”

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Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’ ”

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

Numbers 19

Numbers 19