New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
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And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2 This is a statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid.
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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:
3 You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
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Give her to Eleazar the priest and let him take her outside the tent-circle and have her put to death before him.
4 The priest Eleazar shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting.
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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:
5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned.
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And the cow is to be burned before him, her skin and her flesh and her blood and her waste are to be burned:
6 The priest shall take cedarwood, hyssop, and crimson material, and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is burning.
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Then let the priest take cedar-wood and hyssop and red thread, and put them into the fire where the cow is burning.
7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he may come into the camp; but the priest shall remain unclean until evening.
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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.
8 The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water; he shall remain unclean until evening.
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And he who does the burning is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening.
9 Then someone who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the Israelites for the water for cleansing. It is a purification offering.
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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.
10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute for the Israelites and for the alien residing among them.
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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.
11 Those who touch the dead body of any human being shall be unclean seven days.
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Anyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days:
12 They shall purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean; but if they do not purify themselves on the third day and on the seventh day, they will not become clean.
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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.
13 All who touch a corpse, the body of a human being who has died, and do not purify themselves, defile the tabernacle of the Lord; such persons shall be cut off from Israel. Since water for cleansing was not dashed on them, they remain unclean; their uncleanness is still on them.
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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.
14 This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
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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.
15 And every open vessel with no cover fastened on it is unclean.
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And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean.
16 Whoever in the open field touches one who has been killed by a sword, or who has died naturally, or a human bone, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
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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.
17 For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt purification offering, and running water shall be added in a vessel;
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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:
18 then a clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on whoever touched the bone, the slain, the corpse, or the grave.
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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.
19 The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean ones on the third day and on the seventh day, thus purifying them on the seventh day. Then they shall wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water, and at evening they shall be clean.
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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.
20 Any who are unclean but do not purify themselves, those persons shall be cut off from the assembly, for they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Since the water for cleansing has not been dashed on them, they are unclean.
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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.
21 It shall be a perpetual statute for them. The one who sprinkles the water for cleansing shall wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water for cleansing shall be unclean until evening.
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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.
22 Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.
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Anything touched by the unclean person will be unclean; and any person touching it will be unclean till evening.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.