Thematic Bible: Heifer


Thematic Bible



“This is the legal statute that the Lord has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red cow that has no defect and has never been yoked.

The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work.


For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,


"If a murder victim is found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, your elders and judges must come out and measure [the distance] from the victim to the nearby cities. The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a cow that has not been yoked or used for work. read more.
The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or sown, and they will break the cow's neck there by the stream. Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in the Lord's name, and they are to give a ruling in every dispute and [case of] assault. All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken. They will declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not see [it]. Lord, forgive Your people Israel You redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.' Then they will be absolved of responsibility for bloodshed. You must purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, for you will be doing what is right in the Lord's sight.


Ephraim is a well-trained calf
that loves to thresh,
but I will place a yoke on her fine neck.
I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will plow;
Jacob will do the final plowing.


Ephraim is a well-trained calf
that loves to thresh,
but I will place a yoke on her fine neck.
I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will plow;
Jacob will do the final plowing.


Ephraim is a well-trained calf
that loves to thresh,
but I will place a yoke on her fine neck.
I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will plow;
Jacob will do the final plowing.


On the seventh day, before sunset, the men of the city said to him:

What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?


So he said to them:

If you hadn’t plowed with my young cow,
you wouldn’t know my riddle now!


For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.
Can the Lord now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow?


For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.
Can the Lord now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow?


He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

“This is the legal statute that the Lord has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red cow that has no defect and has never been yoked.


Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.