| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, | 1The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, " |
| 2“This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. | 2This is the legal statute that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red cow that has no defect and has never been yoked. |
| 3You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; | 3Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. |
| 4and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting. | 4Eleazar 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. |
| 5Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned. | 5The cow must be burned in his sight. Its hide, flesh, and blood, are to be burned along with its dung. |
| 6And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. | 6The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson yarn, and throw them onto the fire where the cow is burning. |
| 7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be 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 remain ceremonially unclean until evening. |
| 8And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. | 8The one who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he will remain unclean until evening." |
| 9Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin. | 9A man who is clean is to gather up the cow's ashes and deposit them outside the camp in a ceremonially clean place. The ashes must be kept by the Israelite community for preparing the water to remove impurity; it is a sin offering. |
| 10And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them. | 10Then the one who gathers up the cow's ashes must wash his clothes, and he will remain unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner who resides among them." |
| 11‘He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days. | 11The person who touches any human corpse will be unclean for seven days. |
| 12He shall 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 day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. | 12He is to 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. |
| 13Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him. | 13Anyone who touches a body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person will be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean because the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him." |
| 14‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days; | 14This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who enters the tent and everyone who is already in the tent will be unclean for seven days, |
| 15and every open vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean. | 15and any open container without a lid tied on it is unclean. |
| 16Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. | 16Anyone in the open field who touches a person who has been killed by the sword or has died, or who even touches a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. |
| 17‘And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel. | 17For the purification of the unclean person, they are to take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and add fresh water to them. |
| 18A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave. | 18A person who is clean is to take 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, a corpse, or a person who had been killed." |
| 19The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean. | 19The one 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 purified must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be clean by evening. |
| 20‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. | 20But a person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the assembly because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. |
| 21It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening. | 21This is a permanent statute for them. The person who sprinkles the water for impurity is to wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening. |
| 22Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’ ” | 22Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening." |
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