Beginning

Instructions About Clean and Unclean Meat

11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and told them ² to tell the Israelites these things.

These are the animals that you may eat:

Of all the mammals on land, ³ you may eat any that have hoofs with splits in the hoofs and that rechew their food.^{[a] 4} But you are not to eat the following, which only rechew their food or only have hoofs: The camel, although it rechews its food, has no hoofs. It is unclean for you. ⁵ Do not eat the rock badger, for although it rechews its food, it has no hoofs. It is unclean for you. ⁶ Do not eat the hare, for although it rechews its food, it has no hoofs. It is unclean for you. ⁷ Do not eat the pig, for although it has hoofs with splits in the hoofs, it does not rechew its food. It is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses. They are unclean for you.^[b]

⁹ These are the creatures that you may eat from all those that live in water: You may eat anything from the water that has fins and scales, whether from the seas or the streams. ¹⁰ But everything else in the seas or in the streams that does not have fins and scales, every swarming creature in the water and every other living creature in the water, is detestable to you ¹¹ and shall remain detestable to you. You shall not eat any of their meat, and you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Every creature in the water that does not have fins or scales is detestable to you.

¹³ You shall detest the following among the birds. They shall not be eaten. These are detestable: the eagle, the black vulture, the bearded vulture, ¹⁴ the red kite and black kites of every kind, ¹⁵ ravens and crows of every kind, ¹⁶ the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, all species of hawks, ¹⁷ the tawny owl, the fisher owl, the screech owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, and the scops owl, the osprey, ¹⁹ the stork and all species of herons, the hoopoe, and the bat.^[c]

²⁰ All winged swarming insects that walk on all fours^[d] are detestable for you. ²¹ But among all the winged swarming insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which they leap off the ground. ²² Of them you may eat the following: all species of locusts, all species of bald locusts, all species of crickets, and all species of grasshoppers. ²³ But all other winged swarming insects that have four feet are detestable for you.

²⁴ By any of the following you will make yourselves unclean (anyone who touches their carcasses will remain unclean until sunset,^{[e] 25} and anyone who picks up any part of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until sunset):

²⁶ All animals that have hoofs without splits between the hoofs or that do not rechew their food are unclean for you. Anyone who touches them will become unclean.

²⁷ All animals that walk on their paws and go on all fours are unclean for you. Anyone who touches their carcasses will remain unclean until sunset, ²⁸ and whoever picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until sunset. They are unclean for you.

²⁹ These are the most unclean for you of the creatures that swarm on the ground: the rat, the mouse, and all species of large lizards, ³⁰ the gecko, the spotted lizard, the lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.^{[f] 31} These are the most unclean for you of the creatures that swarm. Whoever touches any of these when they are dead will remain unclean until sunset.

Transferred Uncleanness

³² Any article made of wood or fabric or leather or sackcloth on which any of these fall when they are dead will become unclean. Any article that may be used for any task is to be put in water and remain unclean until sunset. Then it will be clean. ³³ You must smash any clay pot into which any of them falls. Everything in it will become unclean. ³⁴ If any water from the pot touches any food that may be eaten, the food will become unclean, and if any drink that may be drunk is in any clay pot which the unclean thing touches, it will become unclean. ³⁵ Anything else on which the carcass of any of them falls will become unclean. An oven or stove must be broken up. They are unclean and will remain unclean for you. ³⁶ But a spring or a cistern with a reservoir of water will remain clean, even though anyone who touches the carcass will become unclean. ³⁷ If the carcass of any of them falls upon any seed grain that is about to be sown, the seed is clean, ³⁸ but if water has been added to the seed and the carcass of any of them falls on it, it will become unclean for you.

³⁹ If an animal that you may eat has died, anyone who touches its carcass will remain unclean until sunset. ⁴⁰ Anyone who eats any part of its carcass must wash his clothes and remain unclean until sunset. Anyone who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until sunset. ⁴¹ Any swarming creature that swarms on the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten. ⁴² You shall not eat any swarming creature that swarms on the ground, anything that goes on its belly, and anything that goes on all fours, or anything that has many legs, because these creatures are detestable. ⁴³ You shall not make yourself detestable^[g] with any creature that swarms, nor shall you make yourself unclean with them, so that you become unclean by them, ⁴⁴ for I am the Lord your God. Set yourselves apart, therefore, so that you may be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourself unclean with any swarming creature that crawls on the ground, ⁴⁵ for I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God. You therefore shall be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶ This is the law concerning land animals, flying creatures, all living things that move in the water, and all living things that swarm on the ground, ⁴⁷ so that you can distinguish between what is unclean and what is clean, as well as between animals that may be eaten and animals that may not be eaten.

Impurity From Childbirth

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and told him ² to tell the Israelites these things:

When a woman produces offspring^[h] and gives birth to a male, she will become unclean for seven days just as she is unclean during the time of her monthly period. ³ On the eighth day, the foreskin of his flesh^[i] shall be circumcised. ⁴ She will remain in the process of being purified from her flow of blood for thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing nor enter the sanctuary until her period of purification is complete.

⁵ If she gives birth to a female, she will become unclean for two weeks as she does during her monthly period. She shall remain in the process of being purified from her flow of blood for sixty-six days.

⁶ At the completion of her time of purification for either a son or a daughter, she shall bring a lamb in its first year as a whole burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ He shall present it before the Lord and make atonement for her, so that she may be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman who gives birth to a male or female.

⁸ If, however, she cannot afford a sheep or a goat, she may bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, one as a whole burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, so that she will be clean.

The Diagnosis of Impurity From Skin Diseases

13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

² When a person has a discoloration or a scab or a shiny patch^[j] on the skin of his body,^[k] which may become an outbreak of an impure skin disease^[l] on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who are priests. ³ The priest shall examine the infection on the skin of his body. If the hair on the infection has turned white and if the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. After the priest has examined it, he shall declare it unclean.^[m]

⁴ But if there is a white shiny patch on the skin of his body that does not appear to be any deeper than the skin and if its hair has not turned white, the priest shall quarantine the person with the infection for seven days. ⁵ On the seventh day the priest shall examine him, and if, in his judgment, the infection has stayed the same and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days a second time. ⁶ On the seventh day the priest shall examine him a second time. If the infection has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall declare it clean. It is only a scab. After he washes his clothes, he will be clean. ⁷ But if the scab on his skin spreads after he has shown himself to the priest for his purification, he shall show himself to the priest once again. ⁸ The priest shall examine him. If the scab has spread on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an impure skin disease.

⁹ When a person has an outbreak of a skin disease, he shall be brought to the priest. ¹⁰ The priest shall examine him. If there is white discoloration in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is a sore of raw flesh in the discoloration, ¹¹ it is a persistent skin disease on his body. The priest shall declare him unclean. He shall not hold him in quarantine, because he is unclean.

¹² But if the disease breaks out all over the skin, so that a diseased condition covers all the skin with the infection, from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see, ¹³ then the priest shall examine him. If the condition covers the whole of his body, he shall declare the infected area clean, since the whole of it has turned white. He is clean. ¹⁴ But as soon as raw flesh reappears on him, he becomes unclean. ¹⁵ The priest shall examine the raw flesh and declare it unclean. The raw flesh is unclean. It is an impure skin disease. ¹⁶ If, however, the raw flesh once again turns white, he shall come to the priest again. ¹⁷ The priest shall examine it. If the infected area has turned white, the priest shall declare the infection clean. He is clean.

¹⁸ When someone’s body has a boil on the skin that has healed, ¹⁹ and a white discoloration or shiny, reddish-white patch develops on the site of the boil, he shall show himself to the priest. ²⁰ The priest shall examine him. If the infection appears deeper than the skin and if its hair has turned white, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. It has broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest examines it and finds that the hair in it is not white, and it is not deeper than the skin, but it has faded, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. ²² If the outbreak spreads on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an infection. ²³ But if the shiny patch remains the same and it does not spread, it is the scar of a boil. The priest shall declare him clean.

²⁴ When someone’s body has a burn on the skin, and the sore from the burn becomes a shiny, reddish-white or white patch, ²⁵ the priest shall examine it. If the hair in the shiny patch has turned white and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is an impure skin disease. It has broken out in the burn. The priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. ²⁶ But if the priest examines it and finds that the hair in the shiny patch is not white or it is not deeper than the skin, but it has faded, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. ²⁷ On the seventh day the priest shall examine it. If it should spread on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of a skin disease. ²⁸ But if the patch remains the same, without spreading on the skin, and if it has faded, it is the discoloration from a burn. The priest shall declare him clean, because it is the scar of a burn.

²⁹ When a man or a woman has an outbreak on the head or on the chin, ³⁰ the priest shall examine the outbreak. If it appears deeper than the skin and if the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall declare the person unclean. It is a lesion.^[n] It is an impure skin disease of the head or the chin. ³¹ If the priest examines the infected area of the sore and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall quarantine the person who has the outbreak of the sore for seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest shall examine the infected area. If the lesion has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and if the outbreak appears no deeper than the skin, ³³ the man shall shave himself, without shaving the infected area. The priest shall quarantine the person with the lesion a second time for seven days. ³⁴ On the seventh day the priest shall examine the lesion. If the lesion has not spread on the skin and it appears no deeper than the skin, the priest shall declare him clean. After he washes his clothes, he will be clean. ³⁵ If, however, the lesion spreads on the skin after his purification, ³⁶ the priest shall examine it. If the lesion has spread on the skin, the priest does not need to look for the yellow hair. The person is unclean. ³⁷ But, if in the priest’s judgment the lesion has stayed the same and black hair has grown in it, the lesion is healed. That person is clean. The priest shall declare him clean.

³⁸ When a man or a woman has many shiny white patches on the skin of his or her body, ³⁹ the priest shall examine that person. If the patches on the skin of the body are a faded white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin. That person is clean.

⁴⁰ When a man loses hair from the top of his head, he is bald, but he is clean. ⁴¹ If he loses hair from his forehead, he has a receding hairline, but he is clean. ⁴² But if he has a reddish-white infection on his bald crown or on his bald forehead, it is an impure skin disease that has broken out on his bald head or on his bald forehead. ⁴³ The priest shall examine it. If the discoloration of the infection is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead and it looks like the disease on the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he has an impure skin disease. He is unclean. The priest shall declare him completely unclean. It is an infection on his head.

⁴⁵ The person with the skin disease who has an infection on him must wear torn clothes and let his hair be disheveled. He must cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” ⁴⁶ For as long as the infection is on him he shall remain unclean. He is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.

Contamination of Clothing

⁴⁷ When an outbreak of mold^[o] occurs on any piece of clothing, on woolen or linen cloth, ⁴⁸ on the warp or the woof^[p] of linen or wool, on leather or anything made of leather, ⁴⁹ and if the contamination^[q] on the cloth or the leather, or in the warp or the woof, or on any article made of leather is bright yellow-green or bright red, it is an outbreak of mold. It shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ The priest shall examine the contaminated area and shall quarantine the contaminated article for seven days. ⁵¹ On the seventh day he shall examine the contaminated article. If the contamination has spread on the cloth, or in the warp or the woof, or on the leather, or on any article that is made of leather, the contamination is a persistent^[r] mold. It is unclean. ⁵² He must burn the clothing and the warp or the woof, whether it is made of wool or of linen, or whether it is any article made of leather that has the contamination on it. Because it has a persistent mold, it must be burned in fire. ⁵³ But if the priest examines it and discovers that the contamination has not spread on the clothing, or in the warp or the woof, or on any leather article, ⁵⁴ the priest shall command that the material with the contamination on it is to be washed, and he shall quarantine it for seven days a second time. ⁵⁵ Then after the contaminated material has been laundered, and the priest examines it, even if he discovers that the contamination has not changed its appearance and the contamination has not spread, it is unclean. You must burn it in fire, whether the rot is on its front or its back. ⁵⁶ But if the priest examines it and discovers that the contamination has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the clothing or the leather or the warp or the woof. ⁵⁷ If it reappears in the clothing or the warp or the woof or any leather article, it is a new outbreak. You must burn the material with the contamination on it with fire. ⁵⁸ If, however, the contamination vanishes from the clothing, or the warp or the woof, or any leather article that you wash, it shall be washed a second time; then, it will be clean.

⁵⁹ These are the laws about a contamination of mold in woolen or linen clothing, in the warp or the woof, or on any leather article, in order to determine whether it is clean or unclean.