Numbers 19:6–18

⁶The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop^z and scarlet wool^a and throw them onto the burning heifer. ⁷After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water.^b He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. ⁸The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

⁹“A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer^c and put them in a ceremonially clean place^d outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing;^e it is for purification from sin.^{f 10}The man who gathers up^g the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening.^h This will be a lasting ordinanceⁱ both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.^j

¹¹“Whoever touches a human corpse^k will be unclean for seven days.^{l 12}They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day;^m then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean.^{n 13}If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse,^o they defile the Lord’s tabernacle.^p They must be cut off from Israel.^q Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean;^r their uncleanness remains on them.

¹⁴“This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, ¹⁵and every open container^s without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.

¹⁶“Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death,^t or anyone who touches a human bone^u or a grave,^v will be unclean for seven days.^w

¹⁷“For the unclean person, put some ashes^x from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water^y over them. ¹⁸Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop,^z dip it in the water and sprinkle^a the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave^b or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death.