Numbers 19:1-22
The Water of Cleansing
1 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 without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle 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. 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. 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 and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.
11 “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; 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 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, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle 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 or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes 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 the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. 21 This is a lasting ordinance 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 person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron...He said, “These are the laws from the teachings that the LORD gave to the Israelites...Get a red cow that has nothing wrong with it...That cow must not have any bruises...And it must never have worn a yoke...Give that cow to Eleazar, and he will take it outside the camp and kill it there...Then Eleazar the priest must put some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle some of the blood toward the Holy Tent...He must do this seven times...Then the whole cow must be burned in front of him; the skin, the meat, the blood, and the intestines must all be burned...Then the priest must take a cedar stick, a hyssop branch, and some red string...He must throw these things into the fire where the cow is burning...Then the priest must wash himself and his clothes with water...Then he must come back into the camp...He will be unclean until evening...The man who burns that cow must wash himself and his clothes in water...He will be unclean until evening...“Then someone who is clean will collect the ashes from the cow and put them in a clean place outside the camp....These ashes will be used when someone must keep a special ceremony to become clean...These ashes will also be used to remove a person’s sins...“The man who collected the cow’s ashes must wash his clothes...He will be unclean until evening...“This rule will continue forever...This rule is for the citizens of Israel and for the foreigners living with you...Those who touch a dead body will be unclean for seven days...They must wash themselves with the special water on the third day and again on the seventh day...If they don’t do this, they will remain unclean...Those who touch the body of someone who has died are unclean...If they stay unclean and then go to the LORD’s Holy Tent, they make it unclean...So they must be separated from the Israelites...Because the special water was not thrown on them, they remain unclean...
“This is the rule about those who die in their tents: If someone dies in the tent, everyone in the tent will be unclean for seven days...And every jar or pot without a lid becomes unclean...If there is a dead body out in a field, whether the person died in battle or for some other reason, whoever touches that dead body, or its bones, or even its grave will be unclean for seven days...“If you have become unclean, someone must use the ashes from the burned cow to make you clean again...They must pour fresh water over the ashes into a jar...That clean person must take a hyssop branch and dip it into the water...The clean person must sprinkle it over the tent, the dishes, and any people who were in the tent...That clean person must do this for anyone who touches a dead body, its bones, or even a grave...“Then that clean person must sprinkle this water on you on the third day and again on the seventh day...On the seventh day you will become clean...You must wash your clothes in water and you will become clean in the evening...
“Whoever becomes unclean and does not become clean must be separated from the community...If an unclean person is not sprinkled with that special water and does not become clean, that person might make the LORD’s Holy Tent unclean...This rule will be for you forever...And whoever sprinkled the special water must wash their clothes because they will be unclean until evening...And whoever an unclean person touches will be unclean until evening.”...