New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
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ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon,
2 "These are the teachings that the Lord commanded. Tell the Israelites to get a young red cow that does not have anything wrong with it and that has never been worked.
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"This is the regulation from the Torah which ADONAI has commanded. Tell the people of Isra'el to bring you a young red female cow without fault or defect and which has never borne a yoke.
3 Give the cow to Eleazar the priest; he will take it outside the camp and kill it.
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You are to give it to El'azar the cohen; it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in front of him.
4 Then Eleazar the priest must put some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Meeting Tent.
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El'azar the cohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle this blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.
5 The whole cow must be burned while he watches; the skin, the meat, the blood, and the intestines must all be burned.
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The heifer is to be burned to ashes before his eyes -its skin, meat, blood and dung is to be burned to ashes.
6 Then the priest must take a cedar stick, a hyssop branch, and a red string and throw them onto the burning cow.
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The cohen is to take cedar-wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw them onto the heifer as it is burning up.
7 After the priest has washed himself and his clothes with water, he may come back into the camp, but he will be unclean until evening.
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Then the cohen is to wash his clothes and himself in water, after which he may re-enter the camp; but the cohen will remain unclean until evening.
8 The man who burns the cow must wash himself and his clothes in water; he will be unclean until evening.
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The person who burned up the heifer is to wash his clothes and himself in water, but he will remain unclean until evening.
9 "Then someone who is clean will collect the ashes from the cow and put them in a clean place outside the camp. The Israelites will keep these ashes to use in the cleansing water, in a special ceremony to cleanse away sin.
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A man who is clean is to collect the ashes of the heifer and store them outside the camp in a clean place. They are to be kept for the community of the people of Isra'el to prepare water for purification from sin.
10 The man who collected the cow's ashes must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. This is a lasting rule for the Israelites and for the foreigners among them.
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The one who collected the ashes of the heifer is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. For the people of Isra'el and for the foreigner staying with them this will be a permanent regulation.
11 "Those who touch a dead person's body will be unclean for seven days.
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"Anyone who touches a corpse, no matter whose dead body it is, will be unclean for seven days.
12 They must wash themselves with the cleansing water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not wash themselves on the third day and the seventh day, they cannot be clean.
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He must purify himself with [these ashes] on the third and seventh days; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.
13 If those who touch a dead person's body stay unclean and go to the Lord's Holy Tent, it becomes unclean; they must be cut off from Israel. If the cleansing water is not sprinkled on them, they are unclean and will stay unclean.
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Anyone who touches a corpse, no matter whose dead body it is, and does not purify himself has defiled the tabernacle of ADONAI. That person will be cut off from Isra'el, because the water for purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.
14 "This is the teaching about someone who dies in a tent: Anyone in the tent or anyone who enters it will be unclean for seven days.
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"This is the law: when a person dies in a tent, everyone who enters the tent and everything in the tent will be unclean for seven days.
15 And every open jar or pot without a cover becomes unclean.
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Every open container without a cover closely attached is unclean.
16 If anyone is outside and touches someone who was killed by a sword or who died a natural death, or if anyone touches a human bone or a grave, that person will be unclean for seven days.
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Also whoever is in an open field and touches a corpse, whether of someone killed by a weapon or of someone who died naturally, or the bone of a person, or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 "So you must use the ashes from the burnt offering to make that person clean again. Pour fresh water over the ashes into a jar.
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"For the unclean person they are to take some of the ashes of the animal burned up as a purification from sin and add them to fresh water in a container.
18 A clean person must take a hyssop branch and dip it into the water, and then he must sprinkle it over the tent and all its objects. He must also sprinkle the people who were there, as well as anyone who touched a bone, or the body of someone who was killed, or a dead person, or a grave.
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A clean person is to take a bunch of hyssop leaves, dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the containers, on the people who were there, and on the person who touched the bone or the person killed or the one who died naturally or the grave.
19 The person who is clean must sprinkle this water on the unclean people on the third day and on the seventh day. On the seventh day they will become clean. They must wash their clothes and take a bath, and they will be clean that evening.
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The clean person will sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day he will purify him; then he will wash his clothes and himself in water; and he will be clean at evening.
20 If any who are unclean do not become clean, they must be cut off from the community. Since they were not sprinkled with the cleansing water, they stay unclean, and they could make the Lord's Holy Tent unclean.
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The person who remains unclean and does not purify himself will be cut off from the community because he has defiled the sanctuary of ADONAI. The water for purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
21 This is a lasting rule. Those who sprinkle the cleansing water must also wash their clothes, and anyone who touches the water will be unclean until evening.
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This is to be a permanent regulation for them. The person who sprinkles the water for purification is to wash his clothes. Whoever touches the water for purification will be unclean until evening.
22 Anything an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and whoever touches it will be unclean until evening."
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Anything the unclean person touches will be unclean, and anyone who touches him will be unclean until evening."
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.