Numbers 19:1-10

New Century Version

The Offering for Cleansing

19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “These are the teachings that the Lord commanded. Tell the Israelites to get a young red cow that does not have anything wrong with it and that has never been worked. ³ Give the cow to Eleazar the priest; he will take it outside the camp and kill it. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest must put some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Meeting Tent. ⁵ The whole cow must be burned while he watches; the skin, the meat, the blood, and the intestines must all be burned. ⁶ Then the priest must take a cedar stick, a hyssop branch, and a red string and throw them onto the burning cow. ⁷ After the priest has washed himself and his clothes with water, he may come back into the camp, but he will be unclean until evening. ⁸ The man who burns the cow must wash himself and his clothes in water; he will be unclean until evening.

⁹ “Then someone who is clean will collect the ashes from the cow and put them in a clean place outside the camp. The Israelites will keep these ashes to use in the cleansing water, in a special ceremony to cleanse away sin. ¹⁰ The man who collected the cow’s ashes must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. This is a lasting rule for the Israelites and for the foreigners among them.