红母牛的灰
1耶和华对摩西和亚伦说： 2“要吩咐以色列人遵行我颁布的以下律法条例。
“以色列人要牵来一头毫无残疾、从未负过轭的红母牛。 3你们要把牛交给以利亚撒祭司，然后牵到营外，当着他的面把牛宰了。 4以利亚撒祭司要用指头蘸牛血，向会幕前面弹七次。 5然后，要当着他的面焚烧红母牛，牛的皮、肉、血和粪都要烧掉。 6祭司要把香柏木、牛膝草、朱红色线扔进烧牛的火里。 7之后，祭司要洗衣沐浴，才能回营，但要等到傍晚才能洁净。 8负责烧牛的人也要洗衣、沐浴，并且要等到傍晚才能洁净。 9要由洁净的人把红母牛灰收起来，放在营外洁净的地方，用于给以色列会众制作除秽水，作除罪之用。 10收起牛灰的人也要洗净衣服，等到傍晚才能洁净。以色列人和寄居的外族人都要永远遵行这定例。
11“碰过尸体的人，七天不洁净。 12他要在第三天和第七天用除秽水自洁，才能洁净，否则就不能洁净。 13若有人碰过尸体却不自洁，他就玷污了耶和华的圣幕，要将他从以色列人中铲除，因为除秽水没有洒在他身上，污秽还留在他身上。 14若有人死在帐篷里，当时走进帐篷的或在场的人都七天不洁净。 15帐篷里没有盖的敞口器皿都不洁净。 16人若在野外碰过被杀或自然死亡之人的尸体，或碰过死人的骸骨或坟墓，就七天不洁净。 17要拿些除罪用的红母牛灰，放在器皿里，倒上清水， 18然后由洁净的人拿牛膝草蘸这水洒在帐篷及里面所有的人和器具上，也要洒在碰过骸骨、坟墓、被杀者尸体或自然死亡者尸体的人身上。 19要由洁净的人在第三天和第七天把水洒在不洁净的人身上。到第七天，接受洁净礼的人要洗衣、沐浴，等到傍晚才能洁净。 20若有人沾了污秽却没有用除秽水自洁，他就不洁净，要将他从会众中铲除，因为他玷污了耶和华的圣所。 21你们要永远遵行这定例。洒除秽水的人要洗净衣服。碰过除秽水的人要等到傍晚才能洁净。 22不洁净的人碰过的东西都不洁净，碰过这些东西的人傍晚之前都不洁净。”
1And 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, and upon which never came yoke: 3And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: 4And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: 5And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: 6And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. 7Then the priest shall 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 he 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 the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for 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.
11¶ He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.19.11 man: Heb. soul of man 12He shall 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, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his 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 open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. 16And whosoever 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 of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:19.17 ashes: Heb. dust19.17 running…: Heb. living waters shall be given 18And a clean person shall take hyssop, 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 on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash 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, that 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 whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
