Beginning

Norms Concerning Ritual Purity^[a]

Chapter 11

Clean and Unclean Animals.^{[b] 1} The Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, ² “Tell the children of Israel: These are the animals that you may eat from among all the animals upon the earth. ³ You may eat any animal that has a cloven hoof and that eats its cud. ⁴ From among those animals that chew their cud and have cloven hoofs, you shall not eat the following: camels, for it chews its cud but does not have a divided hoof, so it will be considered to be unclean; ⁵ the rock badger, for it chews its cud but does not have a divided hoof, so it will be considered to be unclean; ⁶ the hare, for it chews its cud but does not have a divided hoof, so it will be considered to be unclean; ⁷ the pig, for its hoof is divided and is cloven hoofed, but it does not chew its cud, so it will be considered to be unclean. ⁸ You shall not eat their meat nor shall you touch their carcasses. They will be considered to be unclean.

⁹ “These are the animals that you may eat that live in the water: you may eat anything that has fins and scales in the seas or the rivers. ¹⁰ But all the animals that move through the water, whether seas or rivers, that do not have fins or scales will be considered to be an abomination.

¹¹ “They will be an abomination for you. You shall not eat their meat and you shall consider their carcasses to be an abomination. ¹² Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be an abomination for you.

¹³ “Among birds the following will be considered to be an abomination; they will not be eaten for they are an abomination: the eagle, the bearded vulture and the osprey, ¹⁴ the vulture and every type of falcon, ¹⁵ every type of raven, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, and every type of hawk, ¹⁷ the owl, the cormorant, the ibis, ¹⁸ the swan, the pelican, the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, every kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ “All winged creatures that crawl upon four legs will be considered to be an abomination for you. ²¹ Yet from among the insects that walk upon all fours, you may eat those that have two legs above their feet to jump upon the earth. ²² Therefore, you may eat the following: all kinds of locusts, every kind of bald locust, every kind of grasshopper, and every kind of cricket. ²³ But every other flying insect that has four feet will be considered to be an abomination.

²⁴ “By these you shall become unclean, whoever touches their carcasses shall be unclean until the evening ²⁵ and whoever carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁶ You shall consider every animal to be unclean that has undivided hoofs and does not chew its cud. Whoever touches them shall be unclean. ²⁷ Every animal that walks upon all fours and walks upon its paws will be unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcasses shall be considered to be unclean until the evening. ²⁸ Whoever carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and shall be considered to be unclean until the evening. These animals will be considered to be unclean.

^29 [c]“These are the animals that crawl upon the earth that will be considered to be unclean: the weasel, the mouse, every kind of tortoise, ³⁰ the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the snail, and the chameleon. ³¹ These creeping things will be unclean for you. Whoever touches their dead bodies will be considered to be unclean until the evening. ³² Anything upon which one of these falls when it is dead will be considered to be unclean, whether it be a wooden vessel or clothing or a skin or a sack, no matter what it is made of. It is to be washed in water and will be considered to be unclean until the evening. Then it will be clean. ³³ If one of them falls into an earthen vessel, whatever it contains, it will be considered to be unclean, and it will be broken. ³⁴ Any food upon which water falls will be considered to be unclean. Any liquid that can be drunk in any vessel will be considered to be unclean. ³⁵ Everything upon which any part of their carcass falls will be considered to be unclean. Ovens and stoves will be smashed. They are unclean, and will be held to be unclean by you. ³⁶ But a spring or a cistern where water is stored will be clean. Whoever touches their carcasses shall be unclean. ³⁷ If any part of their carcasses falls upon seed for sowing, it will still be clean. ³⁸ But if water falls on the seed and part of their carcasses falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ “If an animal dies that was intended for food, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ Whoever eats some of its carcass shall wash his clothes and shall be unclean until the evening. Whoever picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes and shall be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ “Every creeping thing that crawls upon the earth will be an abomination. It will not be eaten. ⁴² Everything that goes about upon its belly, and everything that goes about upon on all four legs, and everything that has many feet, hence, any of the creeping things that crawl upon the earth, are not to be eaten, for they are an abomination. ⁴³ You shall not make yourselves abominable with any of the creeping things that crawl, nor shall you defile yourselves because of them, lest you make yourselves unclean.

^44 [d]“I am the Lord, your God. Consecrate yourselves and be holy for I am holy.^[e] You will not defile yourselves with any of the creeping things that crawl upon the earth. ⁴⁵ I am the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Therefore, be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶ “This is the law concerning animals and birds and every living creature that moves in the water and everything that crawls upon the earth, ⁴⁷ so that you might know the difference between that which is unclean and that which is clean, between the animals that you can eat and those that you should not eat.”

Chapter 12

Purification after Childbirth.^{[f] 1} The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel: ² When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male child, she shall be considered to be unclean for seven days, just as when she menstruates. ³ On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin will be circumcised. ⁴ Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch any holy thing nor shall she enter into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a girl, she shall be unclean for two weeks as during her menstruation. She shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.^[g]

⁶ “When the days of her purification for a son or a daughter are complete, she shall bring a year-old lamb as a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering to the priest at the entrance to the meeting tent. ⁷ He shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. She shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for a woman who has borne a male or female child. ⁸ If she cannot afford to offer a lamb, she shall offer two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be clean.”^[h]

Chapter 13

Infections of the Skin.^{[i] 1} The Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, ² “When someone has a swelling or a scab or a spot on his skin, and it turns out to be leprosy, then he shall be brought to the priest Aaron or one of his sons who is a priest. ³ The priest shall examine the diseased spot on his skin. If the hair of the diseased spot has become white and the sore seems to be deeper than the surface of the skin, then the disease is leprosy. When the priest has examined it, he shall pronounce him unclean. ⁴ But if the spot on his skin is white and is not deeper than the skin and the hair on it has not become white, the priest shall quarantine the person with the sore for seven days. ⁵ On the seventh day the priest shall examine that person again. If he sees that the sore has not changed, and the sore has not spread, he shall quarantine that person for another seven days. ⁶ The priest shall examine that person again on the seventh day. If the sore has darkened, and the sore has not spread, then the priest shall declare that person clean. It was only a scab. He shall wash his clothes and shall be considered to be clean. ⁷ But if the scab spreads after the priest has examined him and declared him to be clean, then he must be examined by the priest again. ⁸ The priest shall examine it, and if the sore has spread, the priest shall pronounce him to be unclean for it is leprosy.

⁹ “When a person has a leprous sore, he shall be brought to the priest ¹⁰ and the priest shall examine him. If there is a white bump on the skin and the hair on it has turned white, and there is tender, raw flesh on the bump, ¹¹ then it is a chronic leprosy of the skin of his body. The priest shall declare him unclean, but he shall not quarantine him for he is unclean. ¹² If the leprosy breaks out upon the skin so that the leprosy covers all of the skin of the diseased person wherever the priest examined him, from head to foot, ¹³ then the priest shall examine the person whose flesh is covered with leprosy. He shall declare him clean when it has all turned white, for he is clean. ¹⁴ But when some raw skin appears on him, he shall be held to be unclean. ¹⁵ The priest, when he sees the raw skin, shall declare him unclean. The raw skin is unclean; it is leprosy. ¹⁶ But if the raw skin becomes white, then he shall come before the priest ¹⁷ and the priest shall examine him. If he sees that the sore has turned white, the priest shall declare the person with the sore to be clean, for he is clean.

¹⁸ “When someone has a boil on the skin that has healed, ¹⁹ and then a whitish-red bump or spot appears where the boil was, he shall show it to the priest. ²⁰ The priest shall examine it. If he sees that it is deeper than the skin and the hair has turned white, then the priest shall declare him to be unclean. It is a leprous sore that has broken out from the boil. ²¹ But if the priest, upon examining it, sees that it does not have white hair and it is not deeper than the skin, but rather it is a bit darker, then the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. ²² If it spreads over the skin, then the priest shall declare him to be unclean, for the spot is leprous. ²³ But if the spot stays put and does not spread, then it is a scar from the boil and the priest shall declare him to be clean.

²⁴ “When someone has a burn, and the raw burn becomes a reddish-white spot, ²⁵ then the priest shall examine it. If the hair of the spot has turned white and it appears to be deeper than the skin, then it is leprosy. It has broken out of the burn. The priest shall declare him unclean, for it is a leprous sore. ²⁶ But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair on the spot and it is not deeper than the skin, but is a bit darker, then the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. ²⁷ On the seventh day the priest shall examine him again. If it has spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him to be unclean. It is a leprous sore. ²⁸ But if the spot has remained where it was and it has not spread on the skin, but it is somewhat darker, then it is only the swelling of a burn. The priest shall declare him to be clean, because it is only the scar from a burn.

²⁹ “When a man or a woman has a sore on the head or the beard, ³⁰ the priest will examine the sore. If it is deeper than the skin and the hair on it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce it to be unclean. It is the scab of leprosy of the head or the beard. ³¹ But if the priest examines the scab and it is not deeper than the skin and there is no black hair on it, then the priest shall quarantine the person with the scab for seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest shall examine the sore. If the scab has not spread and there is no yellow hair on it, and the scab does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ³³ then the man shall be shaven, but the scab is not to be shaved. He is to be quarantined another seven days. ³⁴ On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scab. If the scab has not spread on the skin and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, then the priest shall declare him to be clean. He shall wash his clothes, for he is clean. ³⁵ But if the scab spreads after his cleansing, ³⁶ the priest shall examine him. If the scab has spread, the priest need not look for yellow hair. He is unclean. ³⁷ But if, from his viewpoint, the scab has not grown larger and black hair has grown upon it, then the scab is clean. The priest shall declare him clean. ³⁸ When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin of the body, ³⁹ the priest shall examine that person. If the spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is only a skin rash. The person is clean.

⁴⁰ “When a man has lost the hair on his head and he is bald, he is clean. ⁴¹ If he has lost the hair from the front of his head, and he has a bald forehead, he is clean. ⁴² But if there is a white reddish sore on his bald head or his bald forehead, it is leprosy that has broken out on his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³ The priest shall examine him. If the swollen sore on his bald head or his bald forehead is reddish-white, looking like leprosy on the skin, ⁴⁴ then he has leprosy and he is unclean. The priest shall declare him unclean because of the sore on his head.

^45 [j]“Anyone who is infected with leprosy shall wear torn clothes, his head is to be uncovered, and he is to cover his moustache. He shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ ⁴⁶ As long as he is infected, he shall be utterly unclean. He will live alone; his dwelling shall be outside of the camp.

⁴⁷ Infections in Fabrics.“When a garment has a leprous mark on it, whether it be a woolen garment or a linen garment, ⁴⁸ whether it is in the weave or the knit of the wool or the linen, or if it is a skin or anything made of a skin, ⁴⁹ if there is a green or red spot on the garment or the skin, whether in the weave or the knit or on anything made of skin, it is to be considered a mark of leprosy and it is to be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ The priest shall look at the spot, and shall secure that thing that is infected for seven days. ⁵¹ He shall examine the mark on the seventh day. If the spot on the garment has spread, whether it be in the weave or the knit, or on the skin or on anything that is made of skin, then the spot is an active leprosy. It is unclean. ⁵² He shall burn the garment, whether the spot is in the weave or the knit, whether it is made of wool or linen or is anything made of skin. It has an active leprosy, and it shall be burned in the fire. ⁵³ But if the priest examines it and the spot has not spread on the garment, either in the weave or the knit or on anything made of skin, ⁵⁴ then the priest shall order that the thing with the mark be washed,^[k] and he shall secure it for seven more days. ⁵⁵ The priest shall examine the thing with the spot after it has been washed. If the color of the spot has not changed, even if it has not spread, it is unclean. It shall be burned in the fire whether the bare spot is on the inside or outside. ⁵⁶ If the priest examines the garment and the spot has faded after the washing, then he shall tear it out of the garment, whether it be made of skin or woven or knitted. ⁵⁷ But if it reappears on the garment, whether in the weave or the knit or on anything made of skin, it is spreading. Whatever is infected shall be burned in the fire. ⁵⁸ The garment, whether of weave or knit or anything made of skin, that has been washed and no longer has the spot, shall be washed a second time and it will then be clean. ⁵⁹ These are the statutes concerning infections of leprosy upon garments, whether woolen or linen, woven or knitted, or on anything made of skin, on how to declare it clean or to declare it unclean.”