Leviticus 12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Purification of Women after Childbirth
12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, saying:
“If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.(A) 3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.(B) 4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing or come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. 5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days.
6 “When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a purification offering.(C) 7 He shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; then she shall be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, male or female. 8 If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering, and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall be clean.”(D)
Leviticus 12
Contemporary English Version
What Women Must Do after Giving Birth
12 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the community of Israel:
If a woman gives birth to a son, she is unclean for seven days, just as she is during her monthly period. 3 (A) Her son must be circumcised on the eighth day, 4 but her loss of blood keeps her from being completely clean for another 33 days. During this time she must not touch anything holy or go to the place of worship. 5 Any woman who gives birth to a daughter is unclean for two weeks, just as she is during her period. And she won't be completely clean for another 66 days.
6 When the mother has completed her time of cleansing, she must come to the front of the sacred tent and bring to the priest a year-old lamb as a sacrifice to please me[a] and a dove or a pigeon as a sacrifice for sin. 7 After the priest offers the sacrifices to me, the mother will become completely clean from her loss of blood, whether her child is a boy or a girl. 8 (B) If she cannot afford a lamb, she can offer two doves or two pigeons, one as a sacrifice to please me and the other as a sacrifice for sin.
Footnotes
- 12.6 sacrifice to please me: See the note at 1.1-3.
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