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Instructions About Bodily Discharges

15 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Speak to the Israelites,[b] and you shall say to them, ‘Any man[c] when a fluid discharge occurs[d] from his body, his fluid discharge is unclean. And this becomes his uncleanness in his fluid discharge: whether his body secretes his fluid discharge or his body blocks his fluid discharge, it is his uncleanness. Any bed upon which the person who discharges lies down becomes unclean, and any object upon which he sits becomes unclean. And anyone who touches his bed must wash his garments and shall wash[e] himself[f] with water, and he shall be unclean until evening. And the person who sits on the object upon which the person who discharges has sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash[g] himself[h] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And the person who touches the body of the person who discharges must wash his garments, and he shall wash[i] himself[j] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And if the person who discharges spits on one who is[k] clean, then[l] that one[m] shall wash is garments, and he shall wash himself[n] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And any saddle upon which the person who discharges rides becomes unclean. 10 And any person who touches anything that happened to be under him becomes unclean until the evening, and the person who carries them must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[o] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 11 And anyone whom the person who discharges might touch without[p] rinsing off his hands with water shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[q] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 12 But[r] a clay vessel that the person who discharges touches must be broken, and any wood object[s] must be rinsed with water.

13 “‘And when the person who discharges becomes clean from his body fluid discharge, he shall count[t] for himself seven days for his cleansing; then[u] he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with fresh[v] water, and he shall be clean. 14 Then[w] on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young doves,[x] and he shall come before[y] Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall give them to the priest. 15 And the priest shall sacrifice[z] one as a sin offering and the other[aa] as a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for him before[ab] Yahweh from his body fluid discharge.

16 “‘And if an emission of semen goes out from anyone, then[ac] he shall wash all of his body with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 17 And any garment and anything leather on which is an emission of semen shall be washed with water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. 18 If[ad] there is a woman with whom a man lies down and there is an emission of semen, then[ae] they shall wash themselves[af] with water, and they shall be unclean until the evening.

19 “‘And when a woman is menstruating,[ag] her body fluid discharge occurs in[ah] her body; for seven days she shall be in her menstruation, and any person who touches her shall become unclean until the evening. 20 And anything upon which she lies down during her menstruation shall become unclean, and anything upon which she sits shall become unclean. 21 And any person who touches her bed must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[ai] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 22 And any person who touches any object on which she sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[aj] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. 23 And if it is on the bed or on the object on which she sits, at his touching it he becomes unclean until the evening. 24 And if a man indeed lies with her and her menstruation occurs on him, then[ak] he shall be unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies down becomes unclean.

25 “‘And when a woman discharges a body fluid consisting of her blood for many days, but not at the time of her menstruation, or when she discharges in addition to[al] her menstruation, all the days of her unclean body fluid discharge she shall become unclean as in the days of her menstruation. 26 Any bed on which she lies during all the days of her body fluid discharge shall become for her as her bed of menstruation, and any object on which she sits becomes unclean as her menstruation’s uncleanness. 27 And any person who touches them becomes unclean, and he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[am] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.

28 “‘And if she is clean from her body fluid discharge, then[an] she shall count for herself seven days, and afterward she becomes clean. 29 And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young doves,[ao] and she shall bring them to the priest at the tent of assembly’s entrance. 30 And the priest shall sacrifice[ap] the one as a sin offering and the other[aq] as a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for her before[ar] Yahweh from her unclean body fluid discharge.’

31 “And you shall keep the Israelites[as] separate from their uncleanness so that they might not die because of[at] their uncleanness by their making my tabernacle, which is in their midst, unclean.

32 “This is the regulation of the one with the body fluid discharge and the one from whom an emission of semen goes out so that he becomes unclean by it 33 and concerning[au] the menstruating woman in her bleeding[av] and the person who discharges his body fluid, for the male and for the female and for a man who lies with an unclean woman.”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 15:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Leviticus 15:2 Literally “a man a man”
  4. Leviticus 15:2 Or “becomes” or “shall be”
  5. Leviticus 15:5 Or “bathe”
  6. Leviticus 15:5 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  7. Leviticus 15:6 Or “bathe”
  8. Leviticus 15:6 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  9. Leviticus 15:7 Or “bathe”
  10. Leviticus 15:7 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  11. Leviticus 15:8 The generic article designating a class of persons or things
  12. Leviticus 15:8 Or “and”
  13. Leviticus 15:8 Hebrew “he”
  14. Leviticus 15:8 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  15. Leviticus 15:10 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  16. Leviticus 15:11 Literally “and not”
  17. Leviticus 15:11 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  18. Leviticus 15:12 Or “And”
  19. Leviticus 15:12 Literally “object of wood”
  20. Leviticus 15:13 Literally “and he shall count”
  21. Leviticus 15:13 Or “and”
  22. Leviticus 15:13 Or “running”; literally “living”
  23. Leviticus 15:14 Or “And”
  24. Leviticus 15:14 Literally “sons of dove”
  25. Leviticus 15:14 Literally “to the faces of”
  26. Leviticus 15:15 Literally “do” or “make”
  27. Leviticus 15:15 Literally “the one”
  28. Leviticus 15:15 Literally “to the faces of”
  29. Leviticus 15:16 Or “and”
  30. Leviticus 15:18 Or “And”
  31. Leviticus 15:18 Or “and”
  32. Leviticus 15:18 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  33. Leviticus 15:19 Literally “is discharging blood”
  34. Leviticus 15:19 Or “from”
  35. Leviticus 15:21 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  36. Leviticus 15:22 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  37. Leviticus 15:24 Or “and”
  38. Leviticus 15:25 Or “beyond”
  39. Leviticus 15:27 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  40. Leviticus 15:28 Or “and”
  41. Leviticus 15:29 Literally “sons of dove”
  42. Leviticus 15:30 Literally “do” or “make”
  43. Leviticus 15:30 Literally “one”
  44. Leviticus 15:30 Literally “the the faces of”
  45. Leviticus 15:31 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  46. Leviticus 15:31 Or “by” or “in”
  47. Leviticus 15:33 Literally “of”
  48. Leviticus 15:33 See similar idiom at 12:2

Male genital emissions

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Speak to the Israelites and say to them: Whenever a man has a genital emission, that emission is unclean. This is the nature of the uncleanness brought about by his emission: regardless of whether his genital organ allows his emission to flow or blocks the flow, it is unclean to him. Any bed on which someone with an emission lies will be unclean, and any object on which that person sits will be unclean. Anyone who touches such a bed must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who sits on something that the one with the emission also sat on must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who touches the body of the one with the emission must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. If the one with the emission spits on a clean person, the clean person must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. Every saddle on which the person with the emission rode will be unclean. 10 Anyone who touches anything that has been under such a person will be unclean until evening. Anyone who carries such items must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. 11 If the one with the emission touches someone without first rinsing his hands with water, that person must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. 12 Any pottery jar that the one with the emission touches must be broken, and any wooden tool must be rinsed with water.

13 When the man with the emission is cleansed of his emission, he will count off seven days for his purification. He must wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water; then he will be clean again. 14 On the eighth day he will take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the meeting tent’s entrance and give these to the priest. 15 The priest will offer them, one as a purification offering and the other as an entirely burned offering. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for him before the Lord because of his emission.

16 If it is an emission of semen, the man must bathe his whole body in water and will be unclean until evening. 17 Any clothing or skin on which there is an emission of semen must be washed in water and will be unclean until evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them must bathe in water and will be unclean until evening.

Female genital emissions

19 Whenever a woman has a discharge of blood that is her normal bodily discharge, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days. Anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 20 Anything on which she lies or sits during her menstruation will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. 22 Anyone who touches anything on which she has sat must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. 23 Whenever anyone touches something—whether it was on the bed or where she has been sitting—they will be unclean until evening. 24 If a man has sexual intercourse with her and her menstruation gets on him, he will be unclean for seven days. Any bed he lies on will be unclean.

25 Whenever a woman has a bloody discharge for a long time, which is not during her menstrual period, or whenever she has a discharge beyond her menstrual period, the duration of her unclean discharge will be like the period of her menstruation; she will be unclean.

26 Any bed she lies on during the discharge should be treated like the bed she uses during her menstruation; and any object she sits on will be unclean, as during her menstruation. 27 Anyone who touches these things will be unclean. They must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening.

28 When the woman is cleansed of her discharge, she will count off seven days; after that, she will be clean again. 29 On the eighth day she will take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the meeting tent’s entrance. 30 The priest will perform a purification offering with one and an entirely burned offering with the other. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for her before the Lord because of her unclean discharge.

31 You must separate the Israelites from their uncleanness so that they don’t die on account of it, by making my dwelling[a] unclean, which is in their midst.

32 This concludes the Instruction concerning those with discharges: men with emissions of semen that make them unclean, 33 women during their menstruation, men or women with discharges, and men who have had sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:31 Or tabernacle