| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1The LORD told Moses and Aaron, | 1The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: |
| 2"This is the ordinance of the law that the LORD commanded that the Israelis be told: They are to bring you a spotless red heifer, without physical defect, that has never been fitted with a yoke. | 2"This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded: 'Instruct the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without blemish, which has no defect and has never carried a yoke. |
| 3They are to deliver it to Eleazar the priest, and it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. | 3You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him. |
| 4Then Eleazar the priest is to take blood from it with his finger and sprinkle the blood in front of the Tent of Meeting. | 4Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times directly in front of the tent of meeting. |
| 5The entire heifer is to be incinerated in his presence, including its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its dung. | 5Then the heifer must be burned in his sight--its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned. |
| 6Then the priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material and throw it into the middle of the burning heifer. | 6And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. |
| 7The priest is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, after which he may enter the camp, but he is to remain unclean until evening. | 7Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and afterward he may come into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening. |
| 8Whoever takes part in the burning is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and is to remain unclean until the evening. | 8The one who burns it must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening. |
| 9Then someone who is unclean is to gather the ashes of the heifer and lay them outside the camp in a clean place. This is to be done for the community of Israel to use for water of purification from sin. | 9"'Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification--it is a purification for sin. |
| 10Whoever gathers the ashes of the heifer is to wash his clothes and is to remain unclean until the evening. This ordinance is to remain for the benefit of both the Israelis and the resident aliens who live among them." | 10The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them. |
| 11"Whoever comes in contact with the body of a dead person is to remain unclean for seven days. | 11"'Whoever touches the corpse of any person will be ceremonially unclean seven days. |
| 12He is to purify himself on the third day and he will be clean on the seventh day. But if he can't purify himself on the third day then he can't be clean on the seventh day. | 12He must purify himself with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean. |
| 13Anyone who comes in contact with a dead person (that is, with the corpse of a human being who has died), but who does not purify himself, defiles the LORD's tent. That person is to be eliminated from Israel, because the water of impurity wasn't sprinkled on him. He remains unclean and his uncleanness will remain with him. | 13Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. And that person must be cut off from Israel, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him. |
| 14"This is the procedure to follow when a man dies in his tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone in it is to remain unclean for seven days. | 14"'This is the law: When a man dies in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days. |
| 15Every open vessel that has no covering fastened around it is to be considered unclean. | 15And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean. |
| 16Whoever is out in an open field and touches the body of someone who was killed by a sword, or a dead body, or someone's bones, or a grave, he is to be considered unclean for seven days. | 16And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, or the body of someone who died of natural causes, or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days. |
| 17"Now as for the unclean, they are to take ashes from the burning sin offering, and pour running water on it inside a vessel. | 17"'For a ceremonially unclean person you must take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin and pour fresh running water over them in a vessel. |
| 18A clean person is to take some hyssop, dip it in water, and then sprinkle it on the tent, on every vessel, and on whoever was there (that is, on whoever touched the bones, the killed person, or the dead body, including whoever dug the grave). | 18Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or one who died, or a grave. |
| 19The clean person is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and seventh day and then he is to purify himself on the seventh day, wash his clothes, and bathe with water. He is to be considered clean at evening. | 19And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening. |
| 20"The person who is unclean but who doesn't purify himself is to be eliminated from contact with the assembly, since he has defiled the LORD's sanctuary and the water of impurity wasn't sprinkled on him. He is to be considered unclean | 20But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the LORD; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean. |
| 21as a continuing reminder to them. Whoever sprinkles the water of impurity is to wash his clothes, and whoever comes in contact with the water of impurity is to remain unclean until evening. | 21"'So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. |
| 22Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches is to be considered unclean and the person who touches him is to be considered unclean until the evening." | 22And whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.'" |
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