Beginning
11 The Eternal One addressed Moses and Aaron again.
Now that Aaron and his sons have been set aside as priests, it is time to instruct them on one of their major duties, that is, helping God’s covenant people understand the difference between purity and impurity. Impurity is a constant challenge and threat to holiness, and God has called His people to be holy. But many actions and circumstances in life put holiness in jeopardy. God knows that His people need help figuring these things out. That’s one of the reasons He sets aside Aaron’s family as priests and gives them these instructions.
It is important to note that purity and impurity, as understood here, are much more than what is sanitary or unsanitary. The ritual purity instructions encompass nearly every aspect of social and religious life in Israel.
Eternal One: 2 Go talk to the Israelites and explain to them which animals of the earth you may and may not eat. 3 You are allowed to eat any animals with split hooves divided into two parts or that chew the cud. 4 But from those animals with split hooves or that chew the cud, you are not allowed to eat camels. Because they only chew the cud and do not have split hooves, camels are impure to you. 5 In the same way, the rock badger chews the cud but does not have split hooves. Therefore, rock badgers are impure to you. 6 Also the hare chews the cud, but it does not have split hooves. Therefore, they are impure to you. 7 The pig has split hooves divided into two parts, but it does not chew the cud. Therefore pigs are impure to you. 8 Do not eat their meat or touch their dead bodies, for they are impure to you.
9 You are certainly allowed to eat these creatures of the water: any fish with fins and scales that swim in the seas or rivers. 10 But any finless or scaleless fish that comes from the abundance of water-life in the seas or rivers, and any other creatures living in the water, are detestable to you. 11 Recognize and treat them for what they are: detestable. You are not allowed to eat their meat, and their dead bodies are repulsive to you. 12 Any finless or scaleless fish or animal or insect in the seas or rivers is detestable to you.
13 Also among the creatures of the air, there are some you should detest as well. Do not eat the eagle, the bearded vulture, or the black vulture, 14 the kite and all kinds of buzzards, 15 any sort of crow, 16 the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, all kinds of hawks, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl, 18 the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, 19 the stork, all kinds of herons, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 Also, any insect that can fly and move around on four legs is detestable. 21 But you are allowed to eat any flying, four-legged insect that has joints above its feet for jumping. 22 You may eat the following insects: locusts, destructive locusts, desert locusts, and grasshoppers. 23 But any other flying, four-legged insects are detestable.
Have you noticed how often faith and food come together? One of the most authentic expressions of our spiritual lives has to do with the table where we gather with family and friends to bless God for the goodness the earth provides. These regulations recorded here helped Israel to maintain its status as God’s chosen and holy people. Kosher laws, as they are called, are unique to Israel’s covenant with the Eternal One. They aren’t God’s laws for everyone; they serve as a cultural boundary-marker indicating what kinds of meat should be eaten.
Eternal One: 24 Also you will become impure until dusk if you touch the carcass of any creature. 25 A person who picks up any part of its carcass must wash his clothes and remain impure until dusk. 26 All animals that do not chew cud or have split hooves that are not in two parts are impure to you. Anyone who has contact with them becomes impure. 27 Also, any four-legged animals that walk on paws are impure to you. Anyone who has contact with their carcasses will be impure until dusk. 28 And anyone who carries their carcass is to wash his clothes and remain impure until dusk. They are impure to you as well.
29 These small creatures that scamper about the earth are impure to you: small rodents, great lizards, 30 geckos, monitor lizards, other lizards, sand reptiles, and chameleons. 31 These small creatures of the earth are impure to you. Anyone who touches their remains will be impure until dusk. 32 If one of the carcasses touches an object you intend to use—such as a piece of wood, an article of clothing, an animal hide, or a sack—then that item is impure and should soak in water until dusk. After that, it will be pure again. 33 If one of the carcasses falls into any container made of clay, the substance within the container will become impure and you should destroy the container. 34 If any food in the container that is ready to eat is touched by water, then the food becomes impure. Any drink from a contaminated container will become impure as well. 35 If any part of a dead body touches something—say, an oven or stove—then that oven or stove must be destroyed. They are impure and will always be impure to you. 36 However if a carcass falls into a spring or a container accumulating water, the water will be ritually pure because it is continually renewed. But the person who pulls the carcass out of the water will be ritually impure. 37 If any part of the dead body has contact with a seed that is to be planted, then the seed remains ritually pure because it is dry. 38 But if the seed becomes wet and any part of a dead body touches it, then the seed is ritually impure.
39 If a clean animal dies naturally, whoever touches the carcass will be impure until dusk. 40 And if anyone eats some of its meat, then that person is to wash his clothes and remain impure until dusk. Anyone who touches the dead body is to wash his clothes and remain impure until dusk.
41 Any swarming creature that scurries along the ground is detestable to you and must not be eaten. Do not consume any of them! 42 Also do not eat any creature that moves on its belly, walks on four legs, or has multiple pairs of feet, for they are detestable to you. 43 Do not defile yourselves by having contact with any of the swarming creatures. Do not become impure by having contact with any of them. 44 For I am the Eternal One, your God. You are to consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy.[a] Do not cause yourselves to become impure by having contact with any swarming creature that crawls along the ground. 45 I am the Eternal One who led you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Therefore, you are to be holy, for I am holy.[b]
46 So this is God’s instruction concerning animals, birds, creatures that live in the waters, and small creatures that move along the ground, 47 so that the people will be able to distinguish between what animals are ritually acceptable and ritually unacceptable, and what is to be eaten and what is not to be eaten.
12 The Eternal One addressed Moses.
Eternal One: 2 Go, talk with the Israelites, and tell them, “If a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy, then she will be ritually unclean for seven days, just like she is unclean when she is menstruating. 3 When the eighth day arrives, the boy will be circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 4 A woman who gives birth to a boy must not have contact with any holy thing or go into the sanctuary for 33 days. She must wait until her purification is complete and her bleeding from childbirth ends. 5 But if the woman gives birth to a girl she will be ritually unclean for 14 days—just like she is unclean when she is menstruating. She must wait 66 days for her purification from bleeding to be complete.
6 After her days of purification are over—regardless of whether she had a boy or a girl—she will bring several things to the priest at the entrance of the congregation tent: a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove for a purification offering. 7 Then the priest will present it to Me and cover the woman’s blood impurity, and she will be ritually clean from her flowing of blood. This is My instruction for any woman who gives birth to a child, either a boy or a girl. 8 If the woman cannot afford a lamb, then she may instead present two turtledoves or two young pigeons[c]—one for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering. The priest will offer them to cover her blood impurity, and she will be ritually clean.
Humans suffer from many different kinds of skin disorders. Although one of the most dreaded diseases known to antiquity was leprosy, it is most likely that few Israelites in Moses’ day suffered from the disease we know as leprosy. The Hebrew word that appears in this chapter covers many disfiguring and debilitating skin diseases that certainly can be infectious. The priests are given the challenge of making critical observations as to what is indeed infectious and what is not. The term applied not only to a variety of skin diseases, but it was also used to describe articles of clothing or buildings marred from leprouslike outbreaks.
By the time of the New Testament, leprosy is present in Israel. It is caused by a bacterium that can begin as a blemish on the skin; but when it runs its course, the skin is left discolored. There are unsightly lumps and scaling, and eventually the nerves are paralyzed so that there is no feeling of pain. Without the pain sensation people eventually wear down their fingers and toes into mere nubs. It is a terrible, contagious disease that socially marginalized people from their families’ loving touch and intimate relationships.
13 The Eternal One spoke to Moses and Aaron.
Eternal One: 2 Any time a person has an area of swelling or a rash or a white patch of skin, it may be the sign of a serious skin disease; so he must be taken to one of the priests—Aaron or one of Aaron’s sons. 3 The priest must examine the spot on the skin. If the hair on it has turned white, and the affected area appears to go deep beneath the skin, then it is a serious skin disease. After the examination, he will then pronounce the diseased person unclean. 4 But if the patch on the skin is white and does not appear to go deep beneath the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, then the priest will quarantine the person for seven days. 5 When the seventh day arrives, the priest will examine the affected area again; and if the priest thinks it has not grown worse and has not spread to other parts of the skin, then the priest will continue the quarantine for another seven days. 6 At the end of the second seven days, the priest will examine the person again; and if the affected area has faded and has not spread to any other part of the body, then the priest will pronounce that he is clean and suffers only some minor skin problem. The person is to wash his garments and must be considered clean again.
Only if the individual is declared clean by the priest can he or she come back fully into the life of the community.
7 But if the rash spreads to other parts of the skin after the priest examines the person and pronounces him clean, then he must go back to the priest to be examined again. 8 The priest will check the person again; and if the rash has grown worse and spread, then the priest must pronounce the person unclean. He does, in fact, have a serious skin disease.
9 When a person contracts any serious skin disease, he must be taken to the priest. 10 The priest will check the skin; and if the priest finds an area of white swelling on the skin where the hair has turned white, and if there is a raw, open sore, 11 then the person has a chronic skin disease and the priest must pronounce him unclean. The priest does not have to quarantine the person because it is evident that he is already unclean. 12 If the disease gets worse, spreads across his body, and involves all of his skin from head to toe—as far as the priest can tell— 13 then the priest will check; and if the disease has covered the person’s entire body, then the priest will pronounce the infected man clean because the disease has turned his entire body white. 14 But if a raw, open sore shows up, then he must be declared unclean. 15 The priest will examine the raw skin and pronounce the man unclean because the raw skin is unclean. It is definitely a serious skin disease. 16 If the raw skin changes again and becomes white, then the infected person must go see the priest 17 to be examined. If the affected area has turned white, then the priest will pronounce the diseased person clean; for he is in fact clean.
18 If a boil shows up on someone’s skin, and the boil goes away 19 and is replaced by a swollen white or a reddish-white spot, then he must point this out to the priest. 20 The priest will check; and if the affected area appears to go deep beneath the skin and the hairs on it have turned white, then the priest will pronounce the person unclean. It is a case of serious skin disease that started out as a boil. 21 But if the priest examines the person and finds there are no white hairs on it and the condition does not appear to go deep beneath the skin, and is, in fact, improving, then the priest will quarantine the infected person for seven days. 22 If the condition spreads to new places on the skin, the priest will pronounce him unclean; it is a serious infection. 23 However, if the affected area does not get worse or spread to new parts of the skin, it is simply a scar from the boil, and the priest will pronounce him clean.
24 If a person suffers a burn in a fire, and the raw skin from the burn turns shiny white, reddish-white, or white, 25 the priest will examine the affected area. If the hair on it is white and the sore appears to go deep beneath the skin, then the person has a serious skin disease that started out from the burn; the priest will declare him unclean. 26 If the priest examines the affected area and finds no white hair on it, and the condition does not go deep beneath the skin but instead seems to be improving, then the priest will quarantine him for seven days. 27 When the seventh day arrives, the priest will examine him once again. If the condition appears to be spreading, the priest will declare him unclean; the person has a serious skin disease. 28 If the affected area does not get worse and spread to new parts of the skin, but seems to be improving, then it is simply swollen from the burn. The priest will pronounce him clean because it is simply a scar from the burn.
29 If a man or a woman has a spot on the head or chin, 30 the priest must examine it, and if it appears to go deep beneath the skin and has thin, yellowish hairs in it, then the priest must pronounce the infected person to be unclean; it is a scaly skin disease on the head or chin. 31 If the priest examines the scaly area and it does not appear to go deep beneath the surface of the skin and there are no dark hairs in it, then the priest will quarantine the infected person for seven days. 32 When the seventh day arrives, the priest will examine the area again. If the scaly area has not gotten worse and there are no yellowish hairs in it, and the scale does not appear to go deep beneath the surface of the skin, 33 then the infected person should shave the head or beard except where hair is growing in the affected area. The priest will then quarantine the infected person for another seven days. 34 When the seventh days arrives, the priest will examine the scale again; and if it has not gotten worse and does not appear to go deep beneath the skin, the priest will pronounce the person clean. He will wash his clothes and be considered clean again. 35 But if the scale gets worse and shows up on new parts of the skin anytime after the priest declares him clean, 36 the priest must examine the person again. If the condition has spread to new parts of the skin, the priest is not required to look for yellowish hair because it is evident the person is unclean. 37 However, if he inspects the person and the scaly skin has not gotten worse and dark hairs are growing on it, then the condition is healed and the person is once again clean. The priest will declare the person clean.
38 If a man or a woman discovers bright shiny spots on the skin, including bright white ones, 39 the priest must check them out. And if he determines that the bright spots on the skin are pale, this is only a minor skin rash; the person is clean.
40 If a man loses his hair and goes bald, he is clean. 41 If he loses it on his forehead but not on the sides, he is only partially bald on the forehead; he is still clean. 42 However, if a reddish-white spot shows up on his bald head or forehead, then a serious skin infection is developing. 43 The priest must examine him; and if the affected area is reddish-white on his bald head or forehead and looks similar to a reddish-white outbreak on the body, 44 then that means the man has a serious skin disease and is unclean. The priest has to pronounce him unclean because of the skin disease on his head.
45 Anyone with a serious skin disease must wear torn clothing, not comb his hair, and cover his face beneath the nose. He must call out, “Unclean! Unclean!” 46 As long as the disease persists, he will be unclean. He must live alone, outside the camp, away from the rest of the community.
47-48 Now if it ever looks as if an article of clothing has some outbreak like leprosy—whether it is made of wool, linen, or leather— 49 and if the affected area in any leather or woven material has turned a greenish or reddish color, it is a sign of a serious problem and should be taken to the priest. 50 The priest must examine the article and quarantine it for seven days. 51 When the seventh day arrives, the priest must check it again; and if the affected area has spread to other parts of the article—whether in the wool, linen, or leather, regardless of what the leather was used for—the article has a serious outbreak which makes it unclean. 52 So the priest has to burn the garment—whether it is made of wool, linen or leather—because it has some serious outbreak like leprosy and must be destroyed by fire.
53 But if the priest examines the article, and the affected area has not spread in either the woven or knitted material, or the leather, 54 the priest must direct the article be washed, and then quarantined for another seven days. 55 After it has been washed, the priest must check it again; and if the affected area looks the same, then the article is still unclean even though the outbreak has not spread. Therefore, you must burn it in the fire; it doesn’t matter whether the affected area is on the front or the back.
56 But if the priest examines it, and the affected area has faded after it has been washed, the priest must rip the affected material out of the garment, leather, or woven or knitted material. 57 If another spot shows up in the article again—either in the woven or knitted material, or the leather—then the outbreak is spreading, and the article must be burned in the fire. 58 But if the spot is gone once the article has been washed—whether it is woven or knitted or leather—you must wash it; then it will be considered clean.
59 So this is God’s instruction for how to deal with linen, woolen, or leather garments that have suspicious-looking spots on them. With these instructions, priests are able to determine whether they are clean or unclean.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.