Numbers 19–20

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 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, ^aand upon which never came yoke: ³and ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her ^bforth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: ⁴and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and ^csprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: ⁵and one shall burn the heifer in his sight; ^dher skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: ⁶and the priest shall take ^ecedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. ⁷Then the priest ^fshall 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. ⁸And ^ghe that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. ⁹And a man that is clean shall gather up ^hthe ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in ⁱa clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel ^jfor a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. 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.

^11kHe that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. ¹²He ^lshall 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. ¹³Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, ^mdefileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and ⁿthat soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; ⁿhis uncleanness is yet upon him. 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. ¹⁵And every ^oopen vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. ¹⁶And ^pwhosoever 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. ¹⁷And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes ^qof the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: ¹⁸and a clean person shall take ^rhyssop, 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: ¹⁹and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean ^son the third day, and on the seventh day: and ^ton the seventh day he shall purify himself, and ^uwash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. ²⁰But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, ^xthat 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. 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. ²²And ^ywhatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

XX.Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, ^ainto the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and ^bMiriam died there, and was buried there. ^2cAnd there was no water for the congregation: ^dand they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³And the people ^echode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died ^fwhen our brethren died before the Lord! ⁴And ^gwhy have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? ⁵And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. ⁶And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and ^hthey fell upon their faces: and ⁱthe glory of the Lord appeared unto them. ⁷And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ^8kTake the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and ^lthou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. ⁹And Moses took the rod ^mfrom before the Lord, as he commanded him. ¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, ⁿHear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? ¹¹And Moses lift up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and ^othe water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. ¹²And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ^pye believed me not, to ^qsanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. ^13rThis is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

^14sAnd Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto ^tthe king of Edom, Thus saith ^uthy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: ^15vhow our fathers went down into Egypt, ^wand we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; ^xand the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: ¹⁶and ^ywhen we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and ^zsent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: ^17alet us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. ¹⁸And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. ¹⁹And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by ^bthe high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, ^cthen I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet. ²⁰And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. ²¹Thus Edom ^drefused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel ^eturned away from him.

²²And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from ^fKadesh, and came unto ^gmount Hor. ²³And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴Aaron shall be ^hgathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ⁱye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: ²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered ^kunto his people, and shall die there. ²⁷And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ^28lAnd Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there ^min the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. ²⁹And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron ⁿthirty days, even all the house of Israel.

XXI.