Numbers 19:21

That is a law for the Israeli people that will never be changed. Those who sprinkle that water on themselves must then wash their clothes. And anyone who touches that water which removes guilt for sins will remain unacceptable to God until that evening.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And 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.

In Context

20“If those who have become unacceptable to me do not become acceptable to me again by doing this, they will no longer be permitted to live among the Israeli people, because they have defiled my Sacred Tent. They did not sprinkle on themselves the water that removes the guilt of their sins, so they remain unacceptable to me.

22“If someone touches a thing or a person that has become unacceptable to me, that person will remain unacceptable to me until that evening.”

Read all of Numbers 19

Cross References

Leviticus 11:25Anyone who picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes and not touch other people until that evening.

Leviticus 16:26“The man who was chosen to send the other goat into the desert and free it there must afterwards wash his clothes and bathe. Then he may return to the camp.

Numbers 19:7“Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe. After doing that, he may return to the camp. But he will be unfit for doing any sacred work until that evening.

Numbers 19:10The man who gathers up the ashes of the cow must also wash his clothes, and he also will be unfit to do any more sacred work until that evening. That is a regulation that will never be changed. It must be obeyed by you Israeli people and by any foreigners who live among you.

Hebrews 9:10They brought those gifts and made those sacrifices according to regulations concerning things to eat and drink, and according to rules that required people to wash various things. God declared that those regulations about our bodies were to be in effect until he put into effect the new covenant; that was a better system.

Hebrews 10:4The principle is that blood of animals such as bulls or goats can never remove the guilt of those who have sinned.

Matthew Henry on Numbers 19:12-22

11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. 12 He 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. 13 Whosoever 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… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Numbers 19:21