民數記19:1-22

19:1 耶和華曉諭摩西、亞倫說：
19:2 「耶和華命定律法中的一條律例乃是這樣說：你要吩咐以色列人，把一隻沒有殘疾、未曾負軛、純紅的母牛牽到你這裡來，
19:3 交給祭司以利亞撒；他必牽到營外，人就把牛宰在他面前。
19:4 祭司以利亞撒要用指頭蘸這牛的血，向會幕前面彈七次。
19:5 人要在他眼前把這母牛焚燒；牛的皮、肉、血、糞都要焚燒。
19:6 祭司要把香柏木、牛膝草、朱紅色線都丟在燒牛的火中。
19:7 祭司必不潔淨到晚上，要洗衣服，用水洗身，然後可以進營。
19:8 燒牛的人必不潔淨到晚上，也要洗衣服，用水洗身。
19:9 必有一個潔淨的人收起母牛的灰，存在營外潔淨的地方，為以色列會眾調做除污穢的水。這本是除罪的。
19:10 收起母牛灰的人必不潔淨到晚上，要洗衣服。這要給以色列人和寄居在他們中間的外人作為永遠的定例。」
19:11 「摸了人死屍的，就必七天不潔淨。
19:12 那人到第三天要用這除污穢的水潔淨自己，第七天就潔淨了。他若在第三天不潔淨自己，第七天就不潔淨了。
19:13 凡摸了人死屍、不潔淨自己的，就玷污了耶和華的帳幕，這人必從以色列中剪除；因為那除污穢的水沒有灑在他身上，他就為不潔淨，污穢還在他身上。
19:14 「人死在帳棚裡的條例乃是這樣：凡進那帳棚的，和一切在帳棚裡的，都必七天不潔淨。
19:15 凡敞口的器皿，就是沒有紮上蓋的，也是不潔淨。
19:16 無論何人在田野裡摸了被刀殺的，或是屍首，或是人的骨頭，或是墳墓，就要七天不潔淨。
19:17 要為這不潔淨的人拿些燒成的除罪灰放在器皿裡，倒上活水。
19:18 必當有一個潔淨的人拿牛膝草蘸在這水中，把水灑在帳棚上，和一切器皿並帳棚內的眾人身上，又灑在摸了骨頭，或摸了被殺的，或摸了自死的，或摸了墳墓的那人身上。
19:19 第三天和第七天，潔淨的人要灑水在不潔淨的人身上，第七天就使他成為潔淨。那人要洗衣服，用水洗澡，到晚上就潔淨了。
19:20 「但那污穢而不潔淨自己的，要將他從會中剪除，因為他玷污了耶和華的聖所。除污穢的水沒有灑在他身上，他是不潔淨的。
19:21 這要給你們作為永遠的定例。並且那灑除污穢水的人要洗衣服。凡摸除污穢水的，必不潔淨到晚上。
19:22 不潔淨人所摸的一切物就不潔淨；摸了這物的人必不潔淨到晚上。」

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ² “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. ³ Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. ⁵ While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. ⁶ The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. ⁷ After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. ⁸ The 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 and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. ¹⁰ The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.

¹¹ “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. ¹² They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. ¹³ If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; 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, ¹⁵ and every open container 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, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

¹⁷ “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. ¹⁸ Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle 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 or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. ¹⁹ The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. ²⁰ But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. ²¹ This is a lasting ordinance for them.

“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. ²² Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”

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    說到「潔淨」和一般說的「乾淨」有些不同，不是藉由打掃或清洗來做到，這些只是一些表徵，真正能夠潔淨是要靠禮儀的作為與意義，來使心靈與肉體得著真正的潔淨。

    然而「潔淨」的目的是為了什麼？就是要得著心靈與肉體完全的健康。但是，儀式本身並不是讓人得著這些，真正的作為在於上帝，是因為上帝透過耶穌基督拯救與聖靈的實現，人才可以真正的潔淨！正如保羅所說：「要用水藉著道把教會洗淨，成為聖潔，可以獻給自己，作個榮耀的教會，毫無玷污、皺紋等類的病，乃是聖潔沒有瑕疵的。」（以弗所書5:26-27）

    求主保守我們，讓我們在耶穌的寶血和祂的聖道的潔淨之下，真的是完全的手潔心清，成為上帝所喜悅的兒女，榮耀上帝的名，永遠以上帝為我們的享受和喜樂！