The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
- BSB Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot.
- ESV And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water.
- NKJV And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.
- NASB The priest shall also give orders to slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water.
- NLT The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The priest has one bird killed in an earthen vessel over running (fresh) water. It matters because the slain bird's blood, mingled with living water, provides the means of cleansing.
Overview
One bird is killed over fresh, flowing water in a clay vessel, its blood mixing with the living water. The combination of shed blood and living water portrays the dual cleansing from sin's guilt and defilement. This anticipates the blood and water that flowed from Christ's pierced side (John 19:34), the source of full cleansing for his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Heb 2:14Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
- Lev 14:50He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.
- Num 5:17and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.
- 2 Cor 5:1For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
- 2 Cor 13:4For he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with him through the power of God toward you.
- 2 Cor 4:7But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 14:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.