1. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2. “These are the teachings that the Lord commanded. Tell the Israelites to get a young red cow. It must not have anything wrong with it. It must not have been worked.
3. Give the cow to Eleazar the priest. He will take it outside the camp and kill it.
4. Then Eleazar the priest must put some of the blood on his finger. He must sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Meeting Tent.
5. Then the whole cow must be burned while he watches. The skin, the meat, the blood and the intestines must all be burned.
6. Then the priest must take a cedar stick, a hyssop branch and a red string. He must throw them onto the burning cow.
7. Then the priest must wash himself and his clothes with water. After that, he may come back into the camp. But he will be unclean until evening.
8. The man who burns the cow must wash himself and his clothes in water. He will be unclean until evening.
9. “Then someone who is clean will collect the ashes from the cow. He will put them in a clean place outside the camp. The Israelites will use these ashes in a special ceremony to cleanse away sin.
10. The man who collected the cow’s ashes must wash his clothes. He will be unclean until evening. This is a lasting rule. It is for the Israelites and for the foreigners among them.