And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water:
And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet. *
To ascertain a woman's virtue, the prescription was as follows:
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:
And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.
This was not all; an animal's flesh was also burned and mixed with the water.
And when he hath made her drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled... her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. **
* Leviticus xiv, 49-52.
** Numbers v, 11-27.