nkjv Numbers:16-19 SEEK
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Now Korah the son of Izhar ,
the son of Kohath ,
the son of Levi ,
with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab ,
and On the son of Peleth ,
sons of Reuben ,
took men ;
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and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel ,
two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation ,
representatives of the congregation ,
men of renown .
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They gathered together against Moses and Aaron ,
and said to them , "
You take too much upon yourselves ,
for all the congregation is holy ,
every one of them ,
and the LORD is among them .
Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD ?"
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So when Moses heard it ,
he fell on his face ;
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and he spoke to Korah and all his company ,
saying , "
Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy ,
and will cause him to come near to Him .
That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him .
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Do this :
Take censers ,
Korah and all your company ;
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put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow ,
and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses is the holy one .
You take too much upon yourselves ,
you sons of Levi !"
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Then Moses said to Korah , "
Hear now ,
you sons of Levi :
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Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel ,
to bring you near to Himself ,
to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD ,
and to stand before the congregation to serve them ;
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and that He has brought you near to Himself ,
you and all your brethren ,
the sons of Levi ,
with you ?
And are you seeking the priesthood also ?
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Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD .
And what is Aaron that you complain against him ?"
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And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab ,
but they said , "
We will not come up !
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Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey ,
to kill us in the wilderness ,
that you should keep acting like a prince over us ?
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Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey ,
nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards .
Will you put out the eyes of these men ?
We will not come up !"
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Then Moses was very angry ,
and said to the LORD , "
Do not respect their offering .
I have not taken one donkey from them ,
nor have I hurt one of them ."
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And Moses said to Korah , "
Tomorrow ,
you and all your company be present before the LORD--you and they ,
as well as Aaron .
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Let each take his censer and put incense in it ,
and each of you bring his censer before the LORD ,
two hundred and fifty censers ;
both you and Aaron ,
each with his censer ."
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So every man took his censer ,
put fire in it ,
laid incense on it ,
and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron .
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And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting .
Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation .
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And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron ,
saying ,
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Separate yourselves from among this congregation ,
that I may consume them in a moment ."
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Then they fell on their faces ,
and said , "
O God ,
the God of the spirits of all flesh ,
shall one man sin ,
and You be angry with all the congregation ?"
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So the LORD spoke to Moses ,
saying ,
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Speak to the congregation ,
saying , "
Get away from the tents of Korah ,
Dathan ,
and Abiram ."'
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Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram ,
and the elders of Israel followed him .
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And he spoke to the congregation ,
saying , "
Depart now from the tents of these wicked men !
Touch nothing of theirs ,
lest you be consumed in all their sins ."
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So they got away from around the tents of Korah ,
Dathan ,
and Abiram ;
and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents ,
with their wives ,
their sons ,
and their little children .
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And Moses said : "
By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works ,
for I have not done them of my own will .
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If these men die naturally like all men ,
or if they are visited by the common fate of all men ,
then the LORD has not sent me .
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But if the LORD creates a new thing ,
and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them ,
and they go down alive into the pit ,
then you will understand that these men have rejected the LORD ."
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Now it came to pass ,
as he finished speaking all these words ,
that the ground split apart under them ,
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and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up ,
with their households and all the men with Korah ,
with all their goods .
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So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit ;
the earth closed over them ,
and they perished from among the assembly .
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Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry ,
for they said , "
Lest the earth swallow us up also !"
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And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense .
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Then the LORD spoke to Moses ,
saying :
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Tell Eleazar ,
the son of Aaron the priest ,
to pick up the censers out of the blaze ,
for they are holy ,
and scatter the fire some distance away .
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The censers of these men who sinned against their own souls ,
let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar .
Because they presented them before the LORD ,
therefore they are holy ;
and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel ."
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So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers ,
which those who were burned up had presented ,
and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar ,
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to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider ,
who is not a descendant of Aaron ,
should come near to offer incense before the LORD ,
that he might not become like Korah and his companions ,
just as the LORD had said to him through Moses .
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On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron ,
saying , "
You have killed the people of the LORD ."
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Now it happened ,
when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron ,
that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting ;
and suddenly the cloud covered it ,
and the glory of the LORD appeared .
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Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting .
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And the LORD spoke to Moses ,
saying ,
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Get away from among this congregation ,
that I may consume them in a moment ."
And they fell on their faces .
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So Moses said to Aaron , "
Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar ,
put incense on it ,
and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them ;
for wrath has gone out from the LORD .
The plague has begun ."
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Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded ,
and ran into the midst of the assembly ;
and already the plague had begun among the people .
So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people .
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And he stood between the dead and the living ;
so the plague was stopped .
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Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred ,
besides those who died in the Korah incident .
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So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting ,
for the plague had stopped .
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And the LORD spoke to Moses ,
saying :
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Speak to the children of Israel ,
and get from them a rod from each father '
s house ,
all their leaders according to their fathers '
houses--twelve rods .
Write each man '
s name on his rod .
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And you shall write Aaron '
s name on the rod of Levi .
For there shall be one rod for the head of each father '
s house .
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Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony ,
where I meet with you .
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And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom ;
thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel ,
which they make against you ."
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So Moses spoke to the children of Israel ,
and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece ,
for each leader according to their fathers '
houses ,
twelve rods ;
and the rod of Aaron was among their rods .
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And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness .
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Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness ,
and behold ,
the rod of Aaron ,
of the house of Levi ,
had sprouted and put forth buds ,
had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds .
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Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel ;
and they looked ,
and each man took his rod .
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And the LORD said to Moses , "
Bring Aaron '
s rod back before the Testimony ,
to be kept as a sign against the rebels ,
that you may put their complaints away from Me ,
lest they die ."
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Thus did Moses ;
just as the LORD had commanded him ,
so he did .
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So the children of Israel spoke to Moses ,
saying , "
Surely we die ,
we perish ,
we all perish !
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Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die .
Shall we all utterly die ?"
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Then the LORD said to Aaron : "
You and your sons and your father '
s house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary ,
and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood .
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Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi ,
the tribe of your father ,
that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of witness .
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They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle ;
but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar ,
lest they die--they and you also .
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They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting ,
for all the work of the tabernacle ;
but an outsider shall not come near you .
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And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar ,
that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel .
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Behold ,
I Myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel ;
they are a gift to you ,
given by the LORD ,
to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting .
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Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil ;
and you shall serve .
I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service ,
but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death ."
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And the LORD spoke to Aaron : "
Here ,
I Myself have also given you charge of My heave offerings ,
all the holy gifts of the children of Israel ;
I have given them as a portion to you and your sons ,
as an ordinance forever .
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This shall be yours of the most holy things reserved from the fire :
every offering of theirs ,
every grain offering and every sin offering and every trespass offering which they render to Me ,
shall be most holy for you and your sons .
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In a most holy place you shall eat it ;
every male shall eat it .
It shall be holy to you .
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This also is yours :
the heave offering of their gift ,
with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel ;
I have given them to you ,
and your sons and daughters with you ,
as an ordinance forever .
everyone who is clean in your house may eat it .
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All the best of the oil ,
all the best of the new wine and the grain ,
their firstfruits which they offer to the LORD ,
I have given them to you .
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Whatever first ripe fruit is in their land ,
which they bring to the LORD ,
shall be yours .
Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it .
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Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours .
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Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh ,
which they bring to the LORD ,
whether man or beast ,
shall be yours ;
nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem ,
and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem .
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And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old ,
according to your valuation ,
for five shekels of silver ,
according to the shekel of the sanctuary ,
which is twenty gerahs .
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But the firstborn of a cow ,
the firstborn of a sheep ,
or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem ;
they are holy .
You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar ,
and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD .
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And their flesh shall be yours ,
just as the wave breast and the right thigh are yours .
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All the heave offerings of the holy things ,
which the children of Israel offer to the LORD ,
I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever ;
it is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you ."
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Then the LORD said to Aaron : "
You shall have no inheritance in their land ,
nor shall you have any portion among them ;
I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel .
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Behold ,
I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform ,
the work of the tabernacle of meeting .
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Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting ,
lest they bear sin and die .
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But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting ,
and they shall bear their iniquity ;
it shall be a statute forever ,
throughout your generations ,
that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance .
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For the tithes of the children of Israel ,
which they offer up as a heave offering to the LORD ,
I have given to the Levites as an inheritance ;
therefore I have said to them , "
Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance ."'
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Then the LORD spoke to Moses ,
saying ,
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Speak thus to the Levites ,
and say to them : "
When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance ,
then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the LORD ,
a tenth of the tithe .
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And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress .
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Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the LORD from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel ,
and you shall give the LORD '
s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest .
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Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the LORD ,
from all the best of them ,
the consecrated part of them .'
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Therefore you shall say to them : "
When you have lifted up the best of it ,
then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress .
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You may eat it in any place ,
you and your households ,
for it is your reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting .
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And you shall bear no sin because of it ,
when you have lifted up the best of it .
But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the children of Israel ,
lest you die ."'
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Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron ,
saying ,
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This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded ,
saying : "
Speak to the children of Israel ,
that they bring you a red heifer without blemish ,
in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come .
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You shall give it to Eleazar the priest ,
that he may take it outside the camp ,
and it shall be slaughtered before him ;
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and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger ,
and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting .
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Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight :
its hide ,
its flesh ,
its blood ,
and its offal shall be burned .
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And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet ,
and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer .
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Then the priest shall wash his clothes ,
he shall bathe in water ,
and afterward he shall come into the camp ;
the priest shall be unclean until evening .
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And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water ,
bathe in water ,
and shall be unclean until evening .
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Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer ,
and store them outside the camp in a clean place ;
and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification ;
it is for purifying from sin .
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And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes ,
and be unclean until evening .
It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them .
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He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days .
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He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day ;
then he will be clean .
But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day ,
he will not be clean .
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Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died ,
and does not purify himself ,
defiles the tabernacle of the LORD .
That person shall be cut off from Israel .
He shall be unclean ,
because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him ;
his uncleanness is still on him .
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This is the law when a man dies in a tent :
All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days ;
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and every open vessel ,
which has no cover fastened on it ,
is unclean .
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Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died ,
or a bone of a man ,
or a grave ,
shall be unclean seven days .
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And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin ,
and running water shall be put on them in a vessel .
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A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water ,
sprinkle it on the tent ,
on all the vessels ,
on the persons who were there ,
or on the one who touched a bone ,
the slain ,
the dead ,
or a grave .
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The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day ;
and on the seventh day he shall purify himself ,
wash his clothes ,
and bathe in water ;
and at evening he shall be clean .
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But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself ,
that person shall be cut off from among the assembly ,
because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD .
The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him ;
he is unclean .
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It shall be a perpetual statute for them .
He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes ;
and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening .
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Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean ;
and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening ."'
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Then the children of Israel ,
the whole congregation ,
came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month ,
and the people stayed in Kadesh ;
and Miriam died there and was buried there .