Numbers 19

The Red Heifer Sacrifice

1 The Lord told Moses and Aaron.

2 This is the law the Lord commanded, tell the Israelites to bring a perfect red heifer with no defects and that has never been used for work.

3 Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will take it outside the camp and have it slaughtered in his presence.

4 Eleazar will take some of its blood and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle.

5 Then the heifer must be burned completely, its hide, flesh, blood, and even its dung.

6 The priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire burning the heifer.

7 Then the priest must wash his clothes, bathe himself in water, and afterward, he can return to the camp. But he will be unclean until evening.

8 The man who burned the heifer must also wash his clothes and bathe, but he will be unclean until evening.

9 A clean person must gather the heifer’s ashes and place them in a clean spot outside the camp. The ashes will be used for purification from sin.

10 The one who gathers the ashes must wash his clothes, but he will be unclean until evening. This law applies to both Israelites and foreigners living among you.

How to Use the Ashes for Purification

11 If someone touches a dead body, they will be unclean for seven days.

12 They must purify themselves with the water mixed with the heifer’s ashes on the third and seventh days, then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves, they will remain unclean.

13 Anyone who touches a dead body and does not purify themselves makes the Lord’s Tabernacle unclean. They must be cut off from Israel because they did not get cleansed with the purification water.

14 If someone dies in a tent, everyone inside and everything inside will be unclean for seven days.

15 Any open container in the tent with no lid tied on it is unclean.

16 If someone touches a body killed in battle, a dead person, human bones, or a grave, they will be unclean for seven days.

The Purification Process

17 To purify an unclean person, take some of the ashes from the burned heifer and put them in a jar with fresh water.

18 A clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, the people, and anything inside that became unclean.

19 On the third and seventh days, the clean person must sprinkle the water on the unclean person. On the seventh day, they must wash their clothes and bathe, and by evening, they will be clean.

20 If someone is unclean and does not purify themselves, they will be cut off from Israel because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. They must be cleansed with purification water, or they will stay unclean.

21 This law is permanent. The person who sprinkles the water must wash their clothes, and anyone who touches the purification water will be unclean until evening.

22 Anything an unclean person touches will also be unclean, and anyone who touches them will be unclean until evening.