Numbers 19:1-10

The Voice

Eternal One: ² I want to remind you about a decree of instruction by My command: “When they need to make a sin offering, instruct the Israelites to bring a young female cow, red in color, that is perfect in every visible way and has never worked. ³ Hand it over to the priest, Eleazar. He will then oversee its slaughter outside the camp, ⁴ dip his finger in the blood, splatter the blood seven times in the direction of the congregation tent’s opening, ⁵ and make sure that the carcass is burned, every bit of it—hide, flesh, blood, and dung. ⁶ While the cow burns, the priest will throw onto the fire some aromatic woods—cedar and hyssop—bound together by scarlet thread. ^7-8 Afterward, the priest should carefully wash himself and his clothes; then he can reenter the camp. Likewise the one who burns the fire should also wash himself and his clothes. But recognize that they are ritually impure until that evening. ^9-10 Someone else, someone ritually pure, should collect the ashes that remain from the completely burnt offering and put them all in a ritually pure place outside the boundaries of the camp. Then that person, too, should wash his clothes and understand he is ritually impure until evening. The ashes will be used to make a cleansing solution for the Israelites. This is a sin offering.

Remember and observe this perpetual statute concerning ritual contamination and cleansing, which applies to the foreigner who lives among you as well as to all native Israelites: