Leviticus 15
New American Standard Bible
Cleansing Unhealthiness
15 The Lord also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘(A)When any man has a discharge from his [a]body, [b]his discharge is unclean. 3 This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge. 4 Every bed on which the man with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5 Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; 6 and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 7 Also whoever touches the [c]man with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 8 Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 9 Every saddle on which the man with the discharge rides becomes unclean. 10 Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and the one who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 11 Likewise, whomever the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 12 However, an (B)earthenware vessel which the man with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.
13 ‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he (C)shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in [d]running water and will become clean. 14 Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself (D)two turtledoves or two young doves, and come before the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest; 15 and the priest shall offer them, (E)one as a [e]sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So (F)the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord because of his discharge.
16 ‘(G)Now if a [f]man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening. 17 As for any garment or any leather on which there is a seminal emission, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening. 18 If a man sleeps with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be (H)unclean until evening.
19 ‘(I)When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20 Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 22 Whoever touches any object on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 23 Whether it be on the bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 (J)If a man actually sleeps with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25 ‘(K)Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond [g]that period, for all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though [h]in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. 26 Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like [i]her bed at menstruation; and every object on which she sits shall be unclean, like [j]her uncleanness at that time. 27 Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 28 When she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean. 29 Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young doves, and bring them to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 30 And the priest shall offer the (L)one as a [k]sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord because of her impure discharge.’
31 “And so you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their (M)defiling My [l]tabernacle that is among them.” 32 This is the law for the one with a discharge, and for the man [m]who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it, 33 and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity, and for the one who has a discharge, whether a male or a female, or a man who sleeps with an unclean woman.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 15:2 Lit flesh, and so throughout the ch
- Leviticus 15:2 Or by his discharge, he is unclean
- Leviticus 15:7 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 15:13 Lit living
- Leviticus 15:15 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 15:16 Lit man’s...goes out from him
- Leviticus 15:25 Lit her menstrual impurity
- Leviticus 15:25 Lit in the days of
- Leviticus 15:26 Lit the bed of her menstrual impurity
- Leviticus 15:26 Lit the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity
- Leviticus 15:30 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 15:31 Or dwelling place
- Leviticus 15:32 Lit whose seminal emission goes out from him
Leviticus 15
Common English Bible
Male genital emissions
15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: Whenever a man has a genital emission, that emission is unclean. 3 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. 4 Any bed on which someone with an emission lies will be unclean, and any object on which that person sits will be unclean. 5 Anyone who touches such a bed must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. 6 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. 7 Anyone who touches the body of the one with the emission must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and will be unclean until evening. 8 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. 9 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
- Leviticus 15:31 Or tabernacle
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible