Numbers 19:1-10

New American Standard Bible

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an ^(A)unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and ^(B)on which a yoke has never ^[a]been mounted. ³ And you shall give it to ^(C)Eleazar the priest, and it shall ^(D)be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and ^(E)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. ⁵ Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; ^(F)its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. ⁶ And the priest shall take ^(G)cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the ^[b]burning heifer. ⁷ The priest ^(H)shall then wash his clothes and bathe his ^[c]body in water, and afterward come into the camp; but the priest will be ^[d]unclean until evening. ⁸ The one who burns ^[e]the heifer shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his ^[f]body in water, and will be unclean until evening. ⁹ Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and ^[g]the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for ^(I)water to remove impurity; it is ^[h]purification from sin. ¹⁰ And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ^(J)shall wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening; and it shall be a permanent statute for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them.