The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
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The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron
2 This is the rule of the law which the Lord has made, saying, Give orders to the children of Israel to give you a red cow without any mark on her, and on which the yoke has never been put:
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to give the Israelites the following regulations. Bring to Moses and Aaron a red cow which has no defects and which has never been worked,
3 Give her to Eleazar the priest and let him take her outside the tent-circle and have her put to death before him.
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and they will give it to Eleazar the priest. It is to be taken outside the camp and killed in his presence.
4 Then let Eleazar the priest take some of her blood on his finger, shaking the blood seven times in the direction of the front of the Tent of meeting:
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Then Eleazar is to take some of its blood and with his finger sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the Tent.
5 And the cow is to be burned before him, her skin and her flesh and her blood and her waste are to be burned:
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The whole animal, including skin, meat, blood, and intestines, is to be burned in the presence of the priest.
6 Then let the priest take cedar-wood and hyssop and red thread, and put them into the fire where the cow is burning.
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Then he is to take some cedar wood, a sprig of hyssop, and a red cord and throw them into the fire.
7 And the priest, after washing his clothing and bathing his body in water, may come back to the tent-circle, and will be unclean till evening.
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After that, he is to wash his clothes and pour water over himself, and then he may enter the camp; but he remains ritually unclean until evening.
8 And he who does the burning is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening.
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The one who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and pour water over himself, but he also remains unclean until evening.
9 Then let a man who is clean take the dust of the burned cow and put it outside the tent-circle in a clean place, where it is to be kept for the children of Israel and used in making the water which takes away what is unclean: it is a sin-offering.
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Then someone who is ritually clean is to collect the ashes of the cow and put them in a ritually clean place outside the camp, where they are to be kept for the Israelite community to use in preparing the water for removing ritual uncleanness. This ritual is performed to remove sin.
10 And he who takes up the dust of the burned cow is to have his clothing washed with water and be unclean till evening: this is to be a law for ever, for the children of Israel as well as for the man from another country who is living among them.
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The one who collected the ashes must wash his clothes, but he remains unclean until evening. This regulation is valid for all time to come, both for the Israelites and for the foreigners living among them.
11 Anyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days:
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Those who touch a corpse are ritually unclean for seven days.
12 On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
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They must purify themselves with the water for purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on both the third and the seventh day, they will not be clean.
13 Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged.
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Those who touch a corpse and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the Lord's Tent, and they will no longer be considered God's people.
14 This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days.
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In the case of a person who dies in a tent, anyone who is in the tent at the time of death or who enters it becomes ritually unclean for seven days.
15 And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean.
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Every jar and pot in the tent that has no lid on it also becomes unclean.
16 And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man's bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days.
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If any touch a person who has been killed or has died a natural death outdoors or if any touch a human bone or a grave, they become unclean for seven days.
17 And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel:
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To remove the uncleanness, some ashes from the red cow which was burned to remove sin shall be taken and put in a pot, and fresh water added.
18 And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched.
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In the first case, someone who is ritually clean is to take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, everything in it, and the people who were there. In the second case, someone who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on those who had touched the human bone or the dead body or the grave.
19 Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening.
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On the third day and on the seventh the person who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on the unclean persons. On the seventh day he is to purify those, who, after washing their clothes and pouring water over themselves, become ritually clean at sunset.
20 But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean.
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Those who have become ritually unclean and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the Lord's Tent and will no longer be considered God's people.
21 This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.
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You are to observe this rule for all time to come. The person who sprinkles the water for purification must also wash his clothes; anyone who touches the water remains ritually unclean until evening.
22 Anything touched by the unclean person will be unclean; and any person touching it will be unclean till evening.
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Whatever an unclean person touches is unclean, and anyone else who touches it remains unclean until evening.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.