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.
17-18. Before you can be made clean, someone who is clean must take some of the ashes from the burnt cow and stir them into a pot of spring water. That same person must dip a hyssop branch in the water and ashes, then sprinkle it on the tent and everything in it, including everyone who was inside. If you have touched a human bone, a grave, or a dead body, you must be sprinkled with that water.