Numbers 19: The Red Heifer and Water for Cleansing

God commands a red heifer without defect to be burned outside the camp with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet. Its ashes are mixed with running water to make water for cleansing. Anyone who touched a dead body was unclean seven days and was sprinkled with this water on the third and seventh days to be made clean.

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Read Numbers 19

World English Bible · 22 verses

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
² “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded. Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no defect, and which was never yoked.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
³ You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁴ Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁵ One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her meat, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁶ The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁸ He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁹ “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for use in water for cleansing impurity. It is a sin offering.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁰ He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. It shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹¹ “He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹² He shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he doesn’t purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹³ Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn’t purify himself, defiles Yahweh’s tabernacle; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet on him.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁴ “This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁵ Every open vessel, which has no covering bound on it, is unclean.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁶ “Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁷ “For the unclean, they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be poured on them in a vessel.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁸ A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁹ The clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, he shall purify him. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁰ But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²¹ It shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²² “Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.”This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org

Worksheets

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Numbers 19 · Preschool

Water to Make Clean

Name Date

Color the water jar and the hyssop branch! God gave a way to be clean.

Can you find these in the picture? Circle each one!

Bible Verse

“The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer.”

Numbers 19:6 (WEB)

Prayer

Thank You, God, for making me!

Take It Home

Read the verse aloud. Say: God gave His people special water to make them clean. Jesus makes our hearts clean.

Open Grade 4 on its own page

Numbers 19 · Grade 4

Clean from Death

Name Date

Read and Think

In Numbers 19, God gave Israel a way to deal with the uncleanness that came from contact with death. Death was part of life in the wilderness, and a whole generation would die there. God did not leave His people unable to come near Him.

A red heifer without defect was burned outside the camp along with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet. A clean man stored the ashes. When needed, the ashes were mixed with running water. This water for cleansing was called a sin offering.

Anyone who touched a dead body, a bone, or a grave was unclean for seven days. He was sprinkled on the third and seventh days and then was clean. Hebrews 9:13-14 says the ashes of a heifer cleansed the body. It says the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience much more.

Show What You Know

What problem did Numbers 19 address?
What was the cleansing water called?
What made a person unclean for seven days?
What does Hebrews 9:13-14 say Christ's blood cleanses?

Word Bank Fill-In

Use the word bank to fill in each blank.

Godsevenwaterredashes

In Numbers 19, gave Israel a way to deal with the uncleanness that came from contact with death.
A heifer without defect was burned outside the camp along with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet.
A clean man stored the .
When needed, the ashes were mixed with running .
Anyone who touched a dead body, a bone, or a grave was unclean for days.

Think About It

Why do you think God cared about His people being clean?
How does Jesus make us clean in a deeper way?

Memory Verse

“A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for use in water for cleansing impurity. It is a sin offering.

Numbers 19:9 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for making me clean. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

How is Jesus' cleansing better than the heifer's ashes?
How can we come to God when we feel dirty inside?

Open Grade 5 on its own page

Numbers 19 · Grade 5

Water for Impurity

Name Date

Read and Think

Numbers 19 sits between stories of rebellion and death. The old generation was dying in the wilderness, and contact with the dead made people unclean. God provided a remedy. A red heifer without spot or blemish, which had never been yoked, was given to Eleazar, taken outside the camp, and killed. Eleazar sprinkled some of its blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times.

The whole heifer was burned, and the priest cast cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet into the fire. A clean man gathered the ashes and laid them up outside the camp in a clean place for use in water for cleansing impurity. It is a sin offering. Everyone involved became unclean until evening, a reminder that dealing with sin and death affected even those who served.

Anyone who touched the dead body of a person was unclean seven days. If he would not purify himself, he defiled the tabernacle and was cut off. A clean person dipped hyssop in the water and sprinkled the unclean on the third and seventh days. Hebrews 9:13-14 reasons: if the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Jesus also conquered death itself.

Show What You Know

Why was this law especially needed in the wilderness?
Where were the ashes kept?
What happened to the people who handled the heifer?
What happened to someone who refused to be purified?
What does Hebrews 9:14 say Christ's blood does?

Crossword

Across

Mixed with water.
A young cow.
Color of the heifer.

Down

Days unclean.
Sprinkled on the ____ day.

Think About It

How does it feel to know God always provides a way back to Him?
What does it mean to have a clean conscience?

Memory Verse

Numbers 19:9 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for making me clean. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

Why did God make a way to be clean again?
What does it mean to come to God with a clean heart?
What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

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Numbers 19: The Red Heifer and Water for Cleansing

Read Numbers 19

Worksheets

Water to Make Clean

Prayer

Take It Home

Made Clean

Trace the Words

Match the Pictures

Mini Maze

Draw It

Prayer

Take It Home

God Makes Us Clean

Trace the Words

Match the Pictures

Water for Cleansing

Prayer

Take It Home

Special Water

Read the Story

Show What You Know

Word Search

Prayer

Take It Home

Ashes and Running Water

Read the Story

Answer the Questions

Water for Cleansing

Word Search

Prayer

Take It Home

Clean from Death

Read and Think

Show What You Know

Word Bank Fill-In

Think About It

Copy It

Prayer

Take It Home

Water for Impurity

Read and Think

Show What You Know

Crossword

Think About It

Copy It

Prayer

Take It Home

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