1. The lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2. “Here is another legal requirement commanded by the lord: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer, a perfect animal that has no defects and has never been yoked to a plow.
3. Give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
4. Eleazar will take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle.
5. As Eleazar watches, the heifer must be burned—its hide, meat, blood, and dung.
6. Eleazar the priest must then take a stick of cedar, a hyssop branch, and some scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire where the heifer is burning.
7. “Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Afterward he may return to the camp, though he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening.
8. The man who burns the animal must also wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he, too, will remain unclean until evening.