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15 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean. This shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness.

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

“‘He who 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 he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

“‘Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries 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, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

12 “‘The earthen vessel, which 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 discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.

14 “‘On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before Yahweh to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest. 15 The priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh for his discharge.

16 “‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. 17 Every garment and every skin which the semen is on 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 her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

20 “‘Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also 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 that she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 23 If it is on the bed, or on anything she sits on, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening.

24 “‘If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on shall be unclean.

25 “‘If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period. She is unclean. 26 Every bed she lies on all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her period. Everything she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her period. 27 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 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 young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. 30 The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before Yahweh for the uncleanness of her discharge.

31 “‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’”

32 This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it; 33 and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.

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Regulations Concerning Discharges

15 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “Tell the Israelis that when a man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean, and this is the cause of his uncleanness—his discharge. Whether his body is releasing the discharge or his body has stopped the discharge, he’s unclean. Every bed on which he lies down with the discharge is to be considered unclean, and every object on which he sits becomes unclean. Any person[a] who touches his bed is to wash his garments and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. Whoever sits on any object on which the one with the discharge has sat is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

“Whoever touches the body of someone with a discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. Whoever has a discharge and spits on someone who is clean, then he is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

“Any saddle that anyone with a discharge rides on will become unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening. Whoever carries these things is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

11 “Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. 12 The earthen vessel that the person with the discharge touches is to be broken in pieces, and every wooden vessel is to be rinsed with water.”

On Cleansing from Discharges

13 “When the one with the discharge is cleansed from his discharge, then he is to set aside for himself seven days for his cleansing. He is to wash his clothes and bathe with flowing water. Then he will be clean. 14 On the eighth day, he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young doves, bring them to the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest. 15 Then the priest is to offer them—one for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. That’s how the priest will make atonement for him in the Lord’s presence regarding his discharge.”

On Seminal Emissions

16 “If a man has a seminal emission, he is to bathe his entire body with water and remain unclean until evening. 17 Every garment (including leather) on which the semen is found is to be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. 18 When a man has sexual relations with a woman and the man releases semen, both are to bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.”

On Menstrual Discharges

19 “When a woman has a discharge,[b] and the blood is her monthly menstrual discharge[c] from her body, then for seven days she is to remain in her menstrual uncleanness. Whoever touches her will remain unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she sleeps on during her uncleanness will be unclean. Moreover, everything that she sits on will become unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. 22 Anyone who touches any of the objects on which she has sat is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. 23 Any bed or other object on which she sat that he touches will make him unclean until evening. 24 When a man has sexual relations with her and her menstrual uncleanness touches him, he will be unclean for seven days. Every bed where he sleeps will remain unclean.

25 “When a woman has a continuous discharge of blood many days beyond the time of her menstrual uncleanness, or if she has a discharge that lasts beyond the days of her menstrual uncleanness, her uncleanness is to be treated like the days of her menstruation—she’s unclean. 26 Every bed on which she sleeps the whole time she has the discharge will be her own unclean bed, so that every object on which she sits becomes unclean like her menstrual uncleanness. 27 Whoever touches them will become unclean. He is to wash his clothes and bathe with water and he will remain unclean until evening.

28 “If she becomes clean with her discharge, then she is to count for herself seven days, after which she becomes clean. 29 On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 30 Then the priest is to offer one for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. This is how the priest will make atonement in the Lord’s presence for her regarding her unclean discharge.

31 “So separate the Israelis from their uncleanness so that they won’t die in their uncleanness if they defile my tent that is in their midst. 32 These are the regulations for one whose discharge of semen causes him to become unclean because of it, 33 for her whose menstruation causes her to become ill,[d] for anyone who has a discharge (whether male or female), and for the man who has sexual relations[e] with one who is unclean.”

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:5 Lit. man
  2. Leviticus 15:19 Or flow
  3. Leviticus 15:19 The Heb. lacks monthly menstrual
  4. Leviticus 15:33 Lit. who is unwell due to menstrual uncleanness
  5. Leviticus 15:33 Lit. who sleeps; or who lays down