Sotah chapter 9, mishnah 6. In the previous mishnah we learned about the breaking of the calf's neck, and now the mishnah continues with what happens after the calf's neck is broken: the washing of the hands and the declarations made by the elders and the kohanim.
The washing of the hands and the declaration of the elders:
"Ziknei osah ha'ir rochatzin es yedeihem bamayim bimkom arifasah shel eglah" - the elders of the city nearest to the corpse wash their hands with water at the very place where the calf's neck was broken. "Ve'omrim: yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh ve'eineinu lo ra'u" - and they make their declaration in the words of the verse: "Our hands did not spill this blood, and our eyes did not see."
The mishnah's question on this declaration:
"Vechi al da'ateinu alsah shezaknei beis din shofchei damim hen?" - would it ever have entered our minds that the elders of the beis din are murderers, such that they need to declare that they did not spill this blood?
Rather, this is not a declaration about actual bloodshed, but about indirect responsibility: "Ela shelo ba leyadeinu ufetarnuhu belo mazon, velo re'inuhu vehinachnuhu belo levayah". The elders testify concerning the victim that he never came into their hands and they had no contact with him, that they did not send him off without properly providing him with food, and that they did not see him and let him leave without properly escorting him on his way.
Rashi explains the concern of indirect responsibility in each of these two matters:
Food: had they sent him on his way without food, he might have been driven to rob in order to survive, and been killed as a result.
Escort: had they let him leave the city without an escort, perhaps had someone accompanied him he would not have been murdered.
The declaration of the elders is therefore that they bore not even indirect responsibility for what happened.
The declaration of the kohanim:
After the declaration of the elders, "vehakohanim omrim" - the kohanim come forward and recite the continuation of the verse: "Kaper le'amcha Yisrael asher padisa Hashem, ve'al titen dam naki bekerev amcha Yisrael" - atone for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not place innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.
"Venikaper lahem hadam":
The verse concludes with the words "Venikaper lahem hadam", and about this the mishnah says: "Lo hayu tzerichin lomar 'venikaper lahem hadam'" - the kohanim do not recite these closing words as part of their declaration. "Ela ruach hakodesh mevasartan: eimasai shese'asu kach, hadam miskaper lahem" - this is not something the kohanim say, but rather good tidings announced by the ruach hakodesh in the Torah: whenever you carry out the process of the eglah arufah properly, the blood that was spilled is atoned for and you do not bear responsibility for what happened.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned the order of the declarations that follow the breaking of the calf's neck. The elders of the nearest city wash their hands at the place where the calf's neck was broken and declare "yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh", and the mishnah explains that this does not refer to actual bloodshed but to a denial of indirect responsibility, in the matters of food and of escort. After them the kohanim say "kaper le'amcha Yisrael", and the closing words of the verse, "venikaper lahem hadam", they do not say; rather, these are the tidings of the ruach hakodesh, that when the process is carried out properly the blood is atoned for.