Numbers

And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

1The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said:

2This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:

2This is the rule the LORD commands. Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer, a young red cow. She must be perfect, with no marks or hurts. She must never have pulled a plow or a cart.

3And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:

3Give the cow to Eleazar the priest. A priest is a man who serves God at the holy tent. Eleazar will have her taken outside the camp. Someone will kill her there while he watches.

4And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:

4Eleazar will dip his finger in her blood. He will sprinkle some toward the front of the holy tent. He does this seven times.

5And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:

5Then someone will burn the cow while Eleazar watches. Her skin, her meat, her blood, and her waste all burn.

6And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

6The priest will take cedar wood, hyssop, and red yarn. Hyssop is a small plant used like a brush. He throws them all into the fire with the cow.

7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.

7Then the priest must wash his clothes and wash his body with water. After that he may come back into the camp. But he stays unclean until evening.

8And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.

8The man who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and body. He too stays unclean until evening.

9And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

9A clean man will gather the ashes of the cow. He will put them outside the camp in a clean place. The people of Israel will keep them. The ashes are mixed with water to wash away sin.

Note"Water of separation" in the old wording means water used for washing someone clean again.

10And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

10The man who gathers the ashes must wash his clothes. He stays unclean until evening. This rule lasts forever. It is for Israel and for visitors living among them.

11He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

11If you touch a dead body, you are unclean for seven days.

12He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

12You must wash with that special water on the third day and again on the seventh day. Then you will be clean. If you skip the third day, you will not be clean on the seventh.

13Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

13Suppose someone touches a dead body and does not wash. That person makes the LORD's holy tent unclean. That person must be sent away from Israel. The special water was never sprinkled on him. So he is still unclean.

Note"Cut off from Israel" means the person is put out of the group and no longer lives among them.

14This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

14Here is the rule when someone dies inside a tent. Everyone in the tent is unclean for seven days. Everyone who comes in is unclean too.

15And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.

15Every open jar or pot in the tent is unclean. That means any one without a lid tied on.

16And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

16Suppose someone is out in a field. He may touch a person killed by a sword, or a dead body. He may touch a human bone or a grave. Then he is unclean for seven days.

17And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:

17For an unclean person, take some ashes from the burned cow. Put the ashes in a jar. Pour fresh running water over them.

18And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:

18A clean person takes hyssop and dips it in the water. He sprinkles the tent, the pots and things, and the people who were there. He also sprinkles anyone who touched a bone, a grave, or a dead body.

19And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

19The clean person sprinkles the unclean person on the third day and the seventh day. On the seventh day the unclean person washes his clothes and his body. That evening he will be clean.

20But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

20But someone may stay unclean and refuse to wash. That person must be sent away from the people. He has made the LORD's holy place unclean. The special water was never sprinkled on him. He is unclean.

21And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.

21This rule lasts forever. The man who sprinkles the water must wash his clothes. Anyone who touches the water is unclean until evening.

22And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

22Anything an unclean person touches becomes unclean. And anyone who touches that thing is unclean until evening.