Beginning

Clean and Unclean Foods^(A)

11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them: ² Speak to the children of Israel, saying: These are the living things which you shall eat among all the animals that are on the earth. ³ Whatever animal has a parted hoof (that is, split-hoofed), and chews the cud among the animals, that one you shall eat.

⁴ Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud or of those that have a divided hoof: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a divided hoof, is unclean to you; ⁵ the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not have a divided hoof, is unclean to you; ⁶ the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have a divided hoof, is unclean to you; ⁷ the pig, though it does have a divided hoof (that is, split-hoofed), yet it does not chew the cud, is unclean to you; ⁸ you shall not eat of their flesh, and their carcasses you must not touch; they are unclean to you.

⁹ These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: Whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas and in the rivers, these you shall eat; ¹⁰ all that do not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, from all that move in the waters and from any living thing that is in the waters, they are detestable to you; ¹¹ they shall be detestable to you. You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Whatever has no fins or scales in the waters is detestable to you.

¹³ These you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, and the black vulture, ¹⁴ the kite, and buzzard of any kind, ¹⁵ the raven of any kind, ¹⁶ and the eagle owl, the short-eared and long-eared owls, and the hawk of any kind, ¹⁷ and the little owl, the cormorant, and the screech owl, ¹⁸ and the white owl, the scops owl, and the osprey, ¹⁹ and the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ All flying insects that walk, moving on all fours, shall be detestable to you. ²¹ Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet with which to hop on the ground. ²² Even of these you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. ²³ But all other flying insects that have four feet shall be detestable to you.

²⁴ And by these you shall be unclean. Whoever touches the carcass of these shall be unclean until the evening.

Unclean Animals

²⁵ Whoever carries any of the carcasses of these shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. ²⁶ The carcass of every animal that divides the hoof but is not completely split-hoofed nor chews the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. ²⁷ Whatever animal that walks on its paws, among all manner of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁸ He who carries the carcass of these shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹ These also shall be unclean to you among the crawling things that move on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, and the great lizard of any kind, ³⁰ and the gecko, the lizard, the wall gecko, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹ These are unclean to you among all that crawl. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. ³² And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it be an article of wood or clothing or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. It must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. ³³ Every clay vessel into which any of these falls, everything in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. ³⁴ Any food in it that may be eaten on which water is poured shall be unclean, and any drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. ³⁵ Everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or stove, it shall be broken to pieces. They are unclean and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless a fountain or cistern where there is plenty of water shall be clean, but whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean. ³⁷ If any part of their carcass falls on any grain seed that is to be sown, it shall be clean. ³⁸ But if any water is put on the seed, and any part of their carcass fall on it, it shall be unclean to you.

³⁹ If any animal from which you may eat dies, whoever touches the carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ And the person who eats of the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. The person who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ Every crawling thing that moves on the ground shall be detestable. It shall not be eaten. ⁴² Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet from any crawling things that move on the earth, you shall not eat them for they are detestable. ⁴³ You shall not make yourselves detestable with any crawling thing that moves, nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should thereby be defiled by them. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of crawling thing that moves on the ground. ⁴⁵ For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶ This is the law for the animals, and the fowls, and every living creature that moves in the waters, and every creature that crawls on the ground, ⁴⁷ to differentiate between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.

Purification After Childbirth

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the children of Israel, saying: If a woman has conceived and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days, as in the days of her monthly menstruation she shall be unclean. ³ On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying for thirty-three days. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purifying are fulfilled. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks as in her monthly menstruation, and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.

⁶ When the days of her purifying are fulfilled, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a year-old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ⁷ who shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood.

This is the law for the woman who has given birth to a male or a female child. ⁸ If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for the burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.

The Law Concerning Leprosy

13 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ² When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or spot, and it turns on the skin of his body like a mark of a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. ³ And the priest shall examine the mark on the skin of the body, and when the hair on the diseased area is white, and the mark appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, then it is a leprous sore. So the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean. ⁴ If the spot is white on the skin of his body, and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, and the hair is not white, then the priest shall isolate the person who has the mark for seven days. ⁵ Then the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if the mark is still visible, and the mark has not spread into the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days more. ⁶ And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the mark has faded and not spread into the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. ⁷ But if the scab spreads in the skin after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again. ⁸ And if the priest sees that the scab has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.

⁹ When a person has leprosy, then it shall be reported to the priest. ¹⁰ And the priest shall examine him, and if there is a white swelling in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ it is a recurring leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, but he shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.

¹² If the leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the disease covers all the skin of the person who has the disease from his head to his feet, wherever the priest looks, ¹³ then the priest shall examine, and if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean from the disease. It has all turned white, and he is clean. ¹⁴ But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. ¹⁵ The priest shall see the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean, for the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. ¹⁶ Or if the raw flesh turns again, and it is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest. ¹⁷ And the priest shall see him, and if the disease is changed to white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean who has the disease. He is clean.

¹⁸ And when the skin has a boil, and it is healed, ¹⁹ and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it will be shown to the priest. ²⁰ And if the priest sees it, and it is deeper than the skin, and the hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore that has broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest looks at it, and there are no white hairs in it, and if it is not deeper than the skin but has faded, then the priest shall isolate the person for seven days. ²² If it spreads around the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. ²³ But if the spot stays in its place and does not spread, then it is the scar of a boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴ Or if there is some of the skin on the body where there is a burn, and the raw flesh that has a burn becomes a reddish or white spot, ²⁵ then the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white, and it is deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease broken out from the burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. ²⁶ But if the priest looks at it, and there is no white hair in the spot, and it is no deeper than the other skin and is faded, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days. ²⁷ And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if it has spread around the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. ²⁸ If the spot stays in its place and it does not spread in the skin, but is faded, then it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is a scar from the burn.

²⁹ If a man or woman has a sore on the head or in the beard, ³⁰ then the priest shall examine the sore, and if it is deeper than the skin and there is in it a yellow thin hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a scaly leprosy of the head or beard. ³¹ If the priest examines the scaly sore, and it is no deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person with the scale for seven days. ³² And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the sore, and if the scale has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the scale is not deeper than the skin, ³³ then he shall shave, but the scale he shall not shave, and the priest shall isolate the person with the scale another seven days. ³⁴ And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the scale. If the scale has not spread in the skin and is no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵ But if the scale spreads over the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶ then the priest shall examine him. If the scale has spread over the skin, the priest shall not look for yellow hair. He is unclean. ³⁷ But if the scale appears not to have changed and there is black hair growing in it, then the scale is healed. He is clean and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸ If a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, even white bright spots, ³⁹ then the priest shall examine, and if the bright spots on the skin of the body are a faded white, then it is just a rash that has broken out on the skin. He is clean.

⁴⁰ When a man has lost hair from his head, then he is bald. He is still clean. ⁴¹ And when a man has lost hair from his forehead, then he is bald on the forehead. He is still clean. ⁴² But if there is on the bald head or bald forehead a reddish-white sore, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³ Then the priest shall examine it. If the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, resembling a leprous disease in the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he is leprous. He is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean. His disease is on his head.

⁴⁵ The man who has the leprous disease shall have torn clothes and disheveled hair; and he shall cover his mustache and shall cry, “Unclean, unclean.” ⁴⁶ All the days that he has the disease, he shall be defiled. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone, and he shall live outside the camp.

The Law About Leprous Garments

⁴⁷ If a garment has a leprous disease, whether it is a wool or a linen garment, ⁴⁸ whether it is in the warp or woof of the linen or wool fabric, or in the leather or anything made of leather, ⁴⁹ and if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the leather, or in the warp or woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a leprous disease and shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ And the priest shall examine the disease, and isolate the infected article for seven days. ⁵¹ And he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in the leather, or in any work that is made of leather, this is a spreading leprous disease. It is unclean. ⁵² He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, wool or linen, or anything of leather that has the disease, for it is a spreading leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.

⁵³ If the priest examines it, and the disease has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or the woof, or in anything of leather, ⁵⁴ then the priest shall command that they wash the article in which the disease appears, and he shall isolate it for seven days more. ⁵⁵ The priest shall examine the infected article after it has been washed. If the infected spot has not changed its color, even if the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the leprous spot is on the inside or on the outside of the article. ⁵⁶ If the priest examines and the disease has faded after washing it, he shall tear the spot out of the garment, or out of the leather, or out of the warp or the woof. ⁵⁷ If it still appears in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything of leather, it is spreading. You shall burn in the fire that in which the disease appears. ⁵⁸ The garment that you have washed, either in the warp or woof, or anything of leather, if the disease is gone from it, then it shall be washed a second time and shall be clean.

⁵⁹ This is the law of the leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or anything of leather to determine if it is clean or unclean.