Laws About Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “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. ³ 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. ⁴ Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. ⁵ And anyone who touches his bed ^(B)shall wash his clothes and ^(C)bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ⁶ 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. ⁷ 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. ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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 Earthly Holy Place

9 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and ^(A)an earthly place of holiness. ² For ^(B)a tent^[a] was prepared, the first section, in which were ^(C)the lampstand and ^(D)the table and ^(E)the bread of the Presence.^[b] It is called the Holy Place. ³ Behind ^(F)the second curtain was a second section^[c] called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ having the golden ^(G)altar of incense and ^(H)the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^(I)a golden urn holding the manna, and ^(J)Aaron's staff that budded, and ^(K)the tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above it were ^(L)the cherubim of glory overshadowing ^(M)the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶ These preparations having thus been made, ^(N)the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, ⁷ but into the second only ^(O)the high priest goes, and he but ^(P)once a year, and not without taking blood, ^(Q)which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. ⁸ By this the Holy Spirit indicates that ^(R)the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing ⁹ (which is symbolic for the present age).^[d] According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered ^(S)that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, ¹⁰ but deal only with ^(T)food and drink and ^(U)various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest ^(V)of the good things that have come,^[e] then through ^(W)the greater and more perfect tent (^(X)not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he ^(Y)entered ^(Z)once for all into the holy places, not by means of ^(AA)the blood of goats and calves but ^(AB)by means of his own blood, ^(AC)thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if ^(AD)the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with ^(AE)the ashes of a heifer, sanctify^[f] for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will ^(AF)the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ^(AG)offered himself without blemish to God, ^(AH)purify our^[g] conscience ^(AI)from dead works ^(AJ)to serve the living God.

¹⁵ Therefore he is ^(AK)the mediator of a new covenant, so that ^(AL)those who are called may ^(AM)receive the promised eternal inheritance, ^(AN)since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.^{[h] 16} For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. ¹⁷ For ^(AO)a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated ^(AP)without blood. ¹⁹ For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took ^(AQ)the blood of calves and goats, ^(AR)with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, ^(AS)“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” ²¹ And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both ^(AT)the tent and all the vessels used in worship. ²² Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and ^(AU)without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

²³ Thus it was necessary for ^(AV)the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ has entered, not into holy places ^(AW)made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ^(AX)on our behalf. ²⁵ Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as ^(AY)the high priest enters ^(AZ)the holy places every year with blood not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, ^(BA)he has appeared ^(BB)once for all ^(BC)at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as ^(BD)it is appointed for man to die once, and ^(BE)after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once ^(BF)to bear the sins of ^(BG)many, will appear ^(BH)a second time, ^(BI)not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^(BJ)waiting for him.