5. The levitical priests are to go there also, because they are to decide every legal case involving violence. The Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name.
6. Then all the leaders from the town nearest the place where the murdered person was found are to wash their hands over the cow
7. and say, ‘We did not murder this person, and we do not know who did it.
8. Lord, forgive your people Israel, whom you rescued from Egypt. Forgive us and do not hold us responsible for the murder of an innocent person.’
9. And so, by doing what the Lord requires, you will not be held responsible for the murder.