Laws About Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, (A)When any man has a discharge from his body,[a] his discharge is unclean. And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. And anyone who touches his bed (B)shall wash his clothes and (C)bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. 10 And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 11 Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 12 And an (D)earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

13 “And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then (E)he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean. 14 And on the eighth day he shall take two (F)turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. 15 And the priest shall use them, (G)one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. (H)And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.

16 (I)“If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. 17 And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and (J)be unclean until the evening.

19 “When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. 20 (K)And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. 21 And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 22 And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 23 Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. 24 And (L)if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

25 “If (M)a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27 And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 28 But (N)if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on the eighth day she shall take two (O)turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 30 And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

31 “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by (P)defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”

32 This is the law (Q)for him who has a discharge and (R)for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; 33 (S)also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is, for anyone, (T)male or (U)female, who has a discharge, and for the (V)man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after (W)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to (X)come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For (Y)I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: (Z)with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and (AA)a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on (AB)the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. (AC)He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. And he shall take from (AD)the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

“Aaron shall (AE)offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall (AF)make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for (AG)Azazel.[b] And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for (AH)Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to (AI)Azazel.

11 “Aaron shall present (AJ)the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take (AK)a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 (AL)and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover (AM)the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And (AN)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 (AO)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood (AP)inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall (AQ)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 (AR)No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is (AS)before the Lord and (AT)make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

20 “And when he has made an end of (AU)atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall (AV)put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall (AW)bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and (AX)he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and (AY)shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and (AZ)offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 And (BA)the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who lets the goat go to (BB)Azazel shall wash his clothes and (BC)bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 (BD)And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. 28 And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that (BE)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall (BF)afflict yourselves[c] and shall do no work, either (BG)the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you (BH)to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. 31 (BI)It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall (BJ)afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. 32 (BK)And the priest who is anointed and (BL)consecrated as priest in his father's place (BM)shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. 33 He shall make atonement for (BN)the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for (BO)the altar, and he shall make atonement for (BP)the priests and for (BQ)all the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel (BR)once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron[d] did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Place of Sacrifice

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. If any one of the house of Israel (BS)kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, and (BT)does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man (BU)shall be cut off from among his people. This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice (BV)in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them (BW)as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall (BX)throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat (BY)for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they (BZ)whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

“And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who (CA)offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and (CB)does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, (CC)that man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them (CD)eats any blood, I will (CE)set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 (CF)For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar (CG)to make atonement for your souls, (CH)for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall (CI)pour out its blood and (CJ)cover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature[e] is its (CK)blood: its blood is its life.[f] Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 (CL)And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, (CM)whether he is a native or a sojourner, (CN)shall wash his clothes and (CO)bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, (CP)he shall bear his iniquity.”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:2 Hebrew flesh; also verse 3
  2. Leviticus 16:8 The meaning of Azazel is uncertain; possibly the name of a place or a demon, traditionally a scapegoat; also verses 10, 26
  3. Leviticus 16:29 Or shall fast; also verse 31
  4. Leviticus 16:34 Hebrew he
  5. Leviticus 17:14 Hebrew all flesh
  6. Leviticus 17:14 Hebrew it is in its life

Paul in Corinth

18 After this Paul[a] left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named (A)Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife (B)Priscilla, because (C)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and (D)because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And (E)he reasoned in the synagogue (F)every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

(G)When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul (H)was occupied with the word, (I)testifying to the Jews that the Christ was (J)Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, (K)he shook out his garments and said to them, (L)“Your blood be on your own heads! (M)I am innocent. (N)From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius (O)Justus, (P)a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. (Q)Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together (R)with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul (S)one night in (T)a vision, (U)“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 (V)for I am with you, and (W)no one will attack you to harm you, for (X)I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12 But when Gallio was (Y)proconsul of Achaia, (Z)the Jews[b] made a united attack on Paul and (AA)brought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to (AB)the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious (AC)crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But (AD)since it is a matter of questions about words and names and (AE)your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of (AF)the brothers[c] and set sail for Syria, and with him (AG)Priscilla and Aquila. At (AH)Cenchreae (AI)he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to (AJ)Ephesus, and he left them there, but (AK)he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you (AL)if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he (AM)went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and (AN)went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, (AO)strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

24 Now a Jew named (AP)Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, (AQ)competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in (AR)the way of the Lord. And (AS)being fervent in spirit,[d] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only (AT)the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when (AU)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him (AV)the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to (AW)Achaia, (AX)the brothers encouraged him and (AY)wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, (AZ)he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures (BA)that the Christ was Jesus.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 18:1 Greek he
  2. Acts 18:12 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verses 14 (twice), 28
  3. Acts 18:18 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 27
  4. Acts 18:25 Or in the Spirit

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