UST NUM Chapter 19

The ritual for removing the effects of sin

19 Yahweh told Moses and Aaron, 2 Here is a rule from the instructions that I have ordered you to obey. Tell the Israelite people to bring to you, Moses, a reddish-brown cow. It must be completely healthy, with no defects. It must be a cow that no one has used to do work. 3 You, Moses and Aaron, must give the cow to the priest Eleazar. He must take it outside the area where the Israelites set up their tents. Then, someone must kill it in Eleazar’s presence. 4 Then the priest Eleazar must dip one of his fingers in the cow’s blood and flick some of the blood seven times toward the front of the sacred tent. 5 Then someone must burn the cow while Eleazar watches. That person must burn the entire cow, including its hide, its meat, its blood, and its excrement.

6 After that, the priest must pick up some cedar wood, some hyssop branches, and some crimson thread. He must toss them onto the fire where the cow is burning.

7 Then the priest must wash his clothes and thoroughly bathe himself. After that, he may return to the area where the Israelites set up their tents. However, he will be impure until the sun sets on that day. 8 The person who burned the cow must also wash his or her clothes and thoroughly bathe himself or herself. That person will be impure until the sun sets on that day.

9 A man who is pure must collect the cow’s ashes. He must put them in a pure place outside the area where the Israelites set up their tents. The Israelite community must keep the ashes safe. They will use them with water to make themselves pure. When they burn this cow it counts as a purifying sacrifice. 10 The man who collected the cow’s ashes must also wash his clothes. He will be impure until the sun sets on that day. This is a permanent rule. It applies both to the Israelites and to the foreigners who live among them.

11 Anyone who touches a human corpse will become impure for seven days. 12 That person must have someone cleanse him or her with the water and ashes. That must happen twice: two days and six days after he or she touched a corpse. After that the person will be pure. However, suppose that the person does not have someone cleanse him or her with the water and ashes two days and six days after he or she touched a corpse. In that case, the person will not be pure. 13 Suppose that someone touches a human corpse but does not have someone cleanse him or her with the water and ashes. In that case, the person has caused the sacred tent where Yahweh makes himself present to become impure. Because no one splattered the water and ashes on that person to make him or her pure, the other Israelites must drive that person out from among them. That person is and will always be impure.

14 Here are the instructions for when someone dies inside a tent. Everyone who was in that tent and everyone who enters that tent will become impure for seven days. 15 Also, every container inside that tent that has no lid covering it is impure. 16 Now suppose that someone is outdoors. Suppose that person touches the place where someone buried someone, or a human bone, or a corpse. The corpse may be someone who died naturally or someone whom someone else killed. In that case, the person who touched any of those things will become impure for seven days.

17 Someone must pick up some of the ashes from the cow that they burned as a purifying sacrifice. That person must put them into a container and pour fresh water on them. That person will use the water and ashes to cleanse any impure people. 18 Then a man who is pure must take some hyssop branches and dip them in the water. Then he must flick some of the water onto the persons or things that are unclean. That includes a tent in which someone died and all the containers and people who were in it. It also includes anyone who touches the place where someone buried someone, or a human bone, or a corpse. The corpse may be someone who died naturally or someone whom someone else killed 19 The person who is pure must flick the water on anyone who is impure twice: two days and six days after he or she became impure. Once the person who is pure cleanses the person who is impure six after he or she became impure, the person who was impure must wash his or her clothes and thoroughly bathe himself or herself. When the sun sets on that day, that person will become pure.

20 Suppose that a person becomes impure and does not cleanse himself or herself. That person has caused the sacred tent where Yahweh makes himself present to become impure. So, the other Israelites must drive that person out from among them. No one splattered the water and ashes on that person to make him or her pure. So, that person remains impure. 21 That is a permanent rule for the Israelites. Additionally, the person who flicked the water on anyone to make him or her pure must wash his or her clothes. Anyone who touches the water that make people pure will become impure until the sun sets on that day.

22 Suppose that a person who is impure touches anything. That thing will become impure. Further, anyone who touches that thing will also become impure until the sun sets on that day.”