Numbers 19:1-9

Purification Ritual

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1} The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, ^{Tools
2} “This is the legal statute that the Lord has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red cow that has no defect and has never been yoked.^(A) ^{Tools
3} Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. ^{Tools
4} Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. ^{Tools
5} The cow must be burned in his sight. Its hide, flesh, and blood, are to be burned along with its dung. ^{Tools
6} The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson yarn,^(B) and throw them onto the fire where the cow is burning. ^{Tools
7} Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may enter the camp, but he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening. ^{Tools
8} The one who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

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9} “A man who is clean is to gather up the cow’s ashes and deposit them outside the camp in a ceremonially clean place. The ashes must be kept by the Israelite community for preparing the water to remove impurity; it is a sin offering.^(C)

Cross references:

A. Numbers 19:2: Deuteronomy 21:3; Hebrews 9:13

B. Numbers 19:6: Leviticus 14:4-7; Leviticus 14:49-52; Hebrews 9:19

C. Numbers 19:9: Leviticus 1:4