Add parallel Print Page Options

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Tell the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed. You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of it toward the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) seven times. Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its waste, shall be burned (reduced to ash). The priest shall take cedar wood and [a]hyssop and scarlet [material] and cast them into the midst of the burning heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and afterward come into the camp, but he shall be [ceremonially] unclean until evening. The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening. Now a man who is [ceremonially] clean shall collect the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the Israelites shall keep it for [b]water to remove impurity; it is [to be used for] purification from sin. 10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute to the Israelites and to the stranger who lives as a resident alien among them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 19:6 I.e. an aromatic plant.
  2. Numbers 19:9 The purpose of the ash mixed with water was to remove the contamination from those defiled because of contact with a dead body.

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “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. 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. 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. Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; (F)its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. And the priest shall take (G)cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the [b]burning heifer. 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. 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. 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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 19:2 Lit gone up
  2. Numbers 19:6 Lit burning of the heifer
  3. Numbers 19:7 Lit flesh
  4. Numbers 19:7 I.e., ritually unclean, and so throughout the ch
  5. Numbers 19:8 Lit it
  6. Numbers 19:8 Lit flesh
  7. Numbers 19:9 Lit it shall be to the congregation...Israel, for a guarding as water of impurity
  8. Numbers 19:9 Or a sin offering