2 “This is the¹ ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without² blemish, in which there is no ^adefect ^band on which a yoke has never come.  ‡

3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it ^aoutside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him;  ‡