Numbers 19:1-10

International Standard Version

The Red Heifer

19 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, ² “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded that the Israelis be told: They are to bring you a spotless red heifer, without physical defect, that has never been fitted with a yoke. ³ They are to deliver it to Eleazar the priest, and it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest is to take blood from it with his finger and sprinkle the blood in front of the Tent of Meeting. ⁵ The entire heifer is to be incinerated in his presence, including its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its dung. ⁶ Then the priest is to take some cedar^[a] wood, hyssop, and scarlet material and throw it into the middle of the burning heifer. ⁷ The priest is to wash his clothes and bathe himself^[b] with water, after which he may enter the camp, but he is to remain unclean until evening. ⁸ Whoever takes part in the burning is to wash his clothes and bathe himself^[c] in water and is to remain unclean until the evening. ⁹ Then someone^[d] who is clean is to gather the ashes of the heifer and lay them outside the camp in a clean place. This is to be done for the community of Israel to use for water of purification from sin. ¹⁰ Whoever gathers the ashes of the heifer is to wash his clothes and is to remain unclean until the evening. This ordinance is to remain for the benefit of both the Israelis and the resident aliens who live among them.”