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The Red Heifer

19 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “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. They are to deliver it to Eleazar the priest, and it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take blood from it with his finger and sprinkle the blood in front of the Tent of Meeting. The entire heifer is to be incinerated in his presence, including its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its dung. Then the priest is to take some cedar[a] wood, hyssop, and scarlet material and throw it into the middle of the burning heifer. 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. 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. 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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 19:6 I.e. a genus of coniferous evergreen in the family Pinaceae; and so throughout the book
  2. Numbers 19:7 Lit. bathe his flesh
  3. Numbers 19:8 Lit. bathe his flesh
  4. Numbers 19:9 Lit. man

Ashes of the Red Heifer

19 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “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] 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. 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. The heifer will be burned[e] in his sight; its skin, its meat, and its blood, in addition to its offal, will burn. The priest will take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson thread, and he will throw them in the midst of the burning heifer.[f] 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. The one who burns it will wash his garments and his body in water; he will be unclean until the evening. 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 19:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Numbers 19:2 Literally “has not gone up”
  3. Numbers 19:3 Or “he will bring it out”
  4. Numbers 19:3 Or “he will slaughter it”
  5. Numbers 19:5 Hebrew “The heifer will burn”
  6. Numbers 19:6 Literally “the burning of the heifer”
  7. Numbers 19:9 Literally “an outside place of the camp”
  8. Numbers 19:9 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  9. Numbers 19:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”