The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying,
"This is My command: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer — one without defect, without blemish, and one that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he shall take it outside the camp where it will be slaughtered in his presence."
As the red heifer was slain, Eleazar dipped his finger in its blood and sprinkled it seven times toward the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Then, under his watch, the entire animal was burned — its hide, flesh, blood, and all its remains. Into the flames he cast cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool.
Afterward, Eleazar washed his clothes, bathed himself in water, and came back into the camp, remaining unclean until evening. The one who had tended the fire did the same — washing and bathing, remaining unclean until nightfall.
Then a man who was ceremonially clean gathered the ashes of the red heifer and placed them in a clean spot outside the camp. These ashes were kept for the community, to be mixed with water — the "water of cleansing" — for purification from sin. Even the man who gathered the ashes had to wash himself and remain unclean till evening.
The LORD declared, "This is a lasting law for all generations — for the Israelites and the foreigners living among them."
Anyone who touched a dead body became unclean for seven days. To be cleansed, they had to be sprinkled with the water on the third and seventh days. Without this purification, they would remain unclean and would defile the LORD's tabernacle — a serious offense that would cut them off from Israel.
God continued,
"If a person dies in a tent, everyone who enters or is inside will be unclean for seven days. Every open container without a cover becomes unclean as well. And whoever touches a person killed by the sword, someone who died naturally, a human bone, or a grave — shall be unclean seven days."
To purify such a one, some of the ashes from the red heifer were placed in a jar and mixed with fresh water. A clean person dipped hyssop into this water and sprinkled the tent, its furnishings, and the people present. He also sprinkled anyone who had touched a bone, grave, or dead body.
On the third and seventh days, the clean person sprinkled the unclean, who then washed his clothes, bathed in water, and by evening became clean again.
But if anyone refused to purify himself, he defiled the LORD's dwelling and was to be cut off from the community.
This law was to stand forever: even the one who sprinkled the water of cleansing had to wash his clothes, and anyone who touched the water became unclean until evening.
For anything that an unclean person touched also became unclean — and whoever touched it shared in that uncleanness until the day ended.
It was a solemn reminder that life and death were sacred before God, and that cleansing could only come through the water made holy by His command.