Numbers 19:1-10

Lexham English Bible

Ashes of the Red Heifer

19 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “This is the decree of the law that Yahweh has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the Israelites^[a] and let them take to you a red heifer without a physical defect, on which a yoke has not been placed.^{[b] 3} And you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be brought^[c] out to a place outside the camp, and it will be slaughtered^[d] in his presence. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest will take some of its blood on his finger and spatter it toward the mouth of the tent of assembly seven times. ⁵ The heifer will be burned^[e] in his sight; its skin, its meat, and its blood, in addition to its offal, will burn. ⁶ The priest will take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson thread, and he will throw them in the midst of the burning heifer.^{[f] 7} The priest will wash his garments and his body in the water, and afterward he will come to the camp; the priest will be unclean until the evening. ⁸ The one who burns it will wash his garments and his body in water; he will be unclean until the evening. ⁹ A clean man will gather the ashes of the heifer, and he will put them in a clean place outside the camp;^[g] it will be for the community of the Israelites^[h] as a requirement for waters of impurity; it is a purification offering. ¹⁰ The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his garments; he will be unclean until evening. It will be an eternal decree for the Israelites^[i] and for one who dwells as an alien in their midst.