| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, | 1Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 2“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. | 2“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. |
| 3Give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. | 3Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. |
| 4Eleazar will take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle. | 4Eleazar 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. |
| 5As Eleazar watches, the heifer must be burned—its hide, meat, blood, and dung. | 5Then the heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung. |
| 6Eleazar the priest must then take a stick of cedar, a hyssop branch, and some scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire where the heifer is burning. | 6The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. |
| 7“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. | 7Then 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. |
| 8The man who burns the animal must also wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he, too, will remain unclean until evening. | 8The one who burned the heifer must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he too will be ceremonially unclean until evening. |
| 9Then 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. | 9Then a man who is ceremonially 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. |
| 10The 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. | 10The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among them. |
| 11“All those who touch a dead human body will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. | 11Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days. |
| 12They 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. | 12He must 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 and seventh days, he will not be clean. |
| 13All 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. | 13Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to 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. |
| 14“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. | 14This 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, |
| 15Any open container in the tent that was not covered with a lid is also defiled. | 15and any open container without a lid fastened on it is unclean. |
| 16And 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. | 16Anyone 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. |
| 17“To remove the defilement, put some of the ashes from the burnt purification offering in a jar, and pour fresh water over them. | 17For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh water over them. |
| 18Then 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. | 18Then 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 touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain. |
| 19On 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. | 19The man who is ceremonially clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and on 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 that evening he will be clean. |
| 20“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. | 20But 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. |
| 21This 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. | 21This 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. |
| 22Anything and anyone that a defiled person touches will be ceremonially unclean until evening.” | 22Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.” |
|
