Numbers 19:1–9

Ceremony of the Red Heifer

¹⁹The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²“This is a statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid.^{* 3}You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.^{* 4}The priest Eleazar shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting.^{* 5}Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its entrails,^m shall be burned. ⁶The priest shall take cedarwood, hyssop, and crimson material and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is burning.^{* 7}Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp, but the priest shall remain unclean until evening.^{* 8}The one who burns the heiferⁿ shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water; he shall remain unclean until evening. ⁹Then someone who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and they shall be kept for the congregation of the Israelites for the water for cleansing. It is a purification offering.^*