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The Law About Bodily Discharges

15 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When any man has a discharge out of his body, his discharge is unclean. This is the instruction for his uncleanness in his discharge, whether the discharge from his body flows or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.

Every bed on which the man with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. Whoever touches the bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. And whoever sits on anything where the man sat who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

And whoever touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

If the man 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.

Any saddle on which the man with a discharge rides shall be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and he who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

11 Whomever he who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

12 The earthen vessel that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

13 When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his issue, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water, and shall be clean. 14 On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. 15 And the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.

16 If any man has a seminal emission, then he shall wash all his body in water and be unclean until the evening. 17 Every garment and all leather on which there is seminal emission shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman, and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.

19 If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

20 Everything that she lies on in her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Also, everything that she sits on shall be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 22 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 If any man lies with her, and her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed where he lies shall be unclean.

25 If 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 be in uncleanness, as in the days of her impurity. She shall be unclean. 26 Every bed that she lies on all the days of her discharge shall be for impurity, and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27 Whoever touches those things shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

28 But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 30 The priest shall offer 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 separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling My tabernacle that is among them.

32 This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has a seminal emission and thus becomes unclean, 33 and for her who is sick from her menstruation, and for him who has a discharge, for anyone male or female, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

Discharges Causing Uncleanness

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge,(A) such a discharge is unclean. Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:

“‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. Anyone who touches his bed must wash their clothes(B) and bathe with water,(C) and they will be unclean till evening.(D) Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

“‘Whoever touches the man(E) who has a discharge(F) must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

“‘If the man with the discharge spits(G) on anyone who is clean, they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

“‘Everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean, 10 and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things(H) must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

11 “‘Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

12 “‘A clay pot(I) that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article(J) is to be rinsed with water.

13 “‘When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days(K) for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean.(L) 14 On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons(M) and come before the Lord to the entrance to the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. 15 The priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering[a](N) and the other for a burnt offering.(O) In this way he will make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.(P)

16 “‘When a man has an emission of semen,(Q) he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening.(R) 17 Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. 18 When a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is an emission of semen,(S) both of them must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

19 “‘When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period(T) will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.

20 “‘Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.(U) 22 Anyone who touches anything she sits on will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. 23 Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, they will be unclean till evening.

24 “‘If a man has sexual relations with her and her monthly flow(V) touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.

25 “‘When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period(W) or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. 26 Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. 27 Anyone who touches them will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

28 “‘When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. 29 On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons(X) and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 30 The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge.(Y)

31 “‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place,[b](Z) which is among them.’”

32 These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen,(AA) 33 for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who has sexual relations with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.(AB)

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:15 Or purification offering; also in verse 30
  2. Leviticus 15:31 Or my tabernacle