1-2. The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following law:The people of Israel must bring Moses a reddish-brown cow that has nothing wrong with it and that has never been used for ploughing.
3. Moses will give it to Eleazar the priest, then it will be led outside the camp and killed while Eleazar watches.
4. He will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the sacred tent.
5. Then the whole cow, including its skin, meat, blood, and insides must be burnt.
6. A priest is to throw a stick of cedar wood, a hyssop branch, and a piece of red yarn into the fire.
7. After the ceremony, the priest is to take a bath and wash his clothes. Only then can he go back into the camp, but he remains unclean and unfit for worship until evening.
8. The man who burnt the cow must also wash his clothes and take a bath, but he is also unclean until evening.
9. A man who isn't unclean must collect the ashes of the burnt cow and store them outside the camp in a clean place. The people of Israel can mix these ashes with the water used in the ceremony to wash away sin.
10. The man who collects the ashes must wash his clothes, but will remain unclean until evening. This law must always be obeyed by the people of Israel and the foreigners living among them.
11. If you touch a dead body, you will be unclean for seven days.
12. But if you wash with the water mixed with the cow's ashes on the third day and again on the seventh day, you will be clean and acceptable for worship. You must wash yourself on those days; if you don't, you will remain unclean.
13. Suppose you touch a dead body, but refuse to be made clean by washing with the water mixed with ashes. You will be guilty of making my sacred tent unclean and will no longer belong to the people of Israel.
14. If someone dies in a tent while you are there, you will be unclean for seven days. And anyone who later enters the tent will also be unclean.