CHAPTER 19
“This
is the statute
of the law
that
the LORD
has commanded:
Instruct
the Israelites
to bring
you
an unblemished
red
heifer
that
has no
defect
and has never
been placed
under a yoke.
Give
it to
Eleazar
the priest,
and he will have it brought
outside
the camp
and slaughtered
in his presence.
Eleazar
the priest
is to take
some of its blood
with his finger
and sprinkle
it
seven
times
toward
the front
of the Tent
of Meeting.
Then the heifer
must be burned
in his sight.
Its hide,
its flesh,
and its blood
are to be burned,
along with
its dung.
The priest
is to take
cedar
wood,
hyssop,
and scarlet wool
and throw
them
onto
the burning
heifer.
Then the priest
must wash
his clothes
and bathe
his body
in water;
after that
he may enter
the camp,
but he
will be ceremonially unclean
until
evening.
The one who burned
the heifer
must also wash
his clothes
and bathe
his body
in water,
and he too will be unclean
until
evening.
Then a man
who is clean
is to gather up
the ashes
of the heifer
and store them
in a ceremonially clean
place
outside
the camp.
They must be
kept
by the congregation
of Israel
for preparing the water
of purification;
this is
for purification from sin.
The man who has gathered up
the ashes
of the heifer
must also wash
his clothes,
and he will be unclean
until
evening.
This
is a permanent
statute
for the Israelites
and for the foreigner
residing
among them.
He
must purify himself with the water
on the third
day
and the seventh
day;
then he will be clean.
But if
he does not
purify
himself on the third
and seventh
days,
he will not
be clean.
Anyone
who touches
a corpse,
the body
of a person
who
has died,
and does not
purify
himself,
defiles
the tabernacle
of the LORD.
That
person
must be cut off
from Israel.
He remains
unclean,
because
the water
of purification
has not
been sprinkled
on him,
and his uncleanness
is still on him.
This
is the law
when
a person
dies
in a tent:
Everyone
who enters
the tent
and everyone
already in the tent
will be unclean
for seven
days,
Anyone
in
the open field
who
touches
someone who has been killed
by the sword
or
has died of natural causes,
or
anyone who touches a human
bone
or
a grave,
will be unclean
for seven
days.
For the purification of the unclean pe
take
some of the ashes
of the burnt purification
offering,
put
them in
a jar,
and pour fresh running
water
over them.
Then a man
who is ceremonially clean
is to take
some hyssop,
dip
it in the water,
and sprinkle
the tent,
all
the furnishings,
and the people
who
were
there.
He is also to sprinkle the one who touch
the bone,
grave,
corpse,
or
person who had been killed.
The man who is clean
is to sprinkle
the unclean person
on the third
day
and the seventh
day.
After he purifies
the unclean person on the seventh
day,
the one being cleansed must wash
his clothes
and bathe
in water,
and he will be clean
by evening.
But if a person
who
is unclean
does not
purify
himself,
he
will be cut off
from
the assembly,
because
he has defiled
the sanctuary
of the LORD.
The water
of purification
has not
been sprinkled
on him;
he
is unclean.
This
is a permanent
statute for the people:
The one who sprinkles
the water
of purification
must wash
his clothes,
and whoever touches
the water
of purification
will be unclean
until
evening.
Anything
the unclean
person touches
will become unclean,
and anyone
who touches it
will be unclean
until
evening.”