Beginning
The Lord gives rules about food to the people
11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 ‘Some animals walk on the land. Tell Israel's people which of these animals they can eat. 3 Each foot on the animal must have two separate parts. The animal must eat its food and then it must bring the food back into its mouth. And then it must eat the food again. Some animals eat their food twice and they have feet with two parts. You can eat those animals.
4 Some animals have feet that have two separate parts. But they do not eat their food twice. Other animals eat their food twice. But their feet do not have two separate parts. You must not eat those animals. The camel eats its food twice. But its feet are not in two separate parts. The people must not eat the camel. 5 The rock badger eats its food twice. But its feet are not in two separate parts. They must not eat the rock badger. 6 The rabbit eats its food twice. But its feet are not in two separate parts. They must not eat the rabbit. 7 The pig's feet are in two parts. But when the pig eats its food, it does not bring the food back into its mouth. It does not eat it twice. The people must not eat the pig. 8 They must not touch the dead bodies of those animals. They must not eat their meat. They are not clean for you to eat.
9 They can eat some animals that live in the sea or in the river. Those animals must have fins and scales on their bodies.[a] 10 They must not eat any other animals from the sea or the river. They must keep away from them. 11 They must not touch the dead bodies of the animals from the sea or the river. They must not eat the meat from those other animals. 12 Animals from the sea and the river may have fins and scales on their bodies. Those are the only ones that you can eat. Those without fins or scales are unclean.
13 They must not eat some birds because they are not clean. They must not eat either the eagle or the vulture. 14 They must not eat the buzzard or the kite. 15 They must not eat the raven. 16 They must not eat any owl, seagull or hawk. 17 They must not eat the cormorant. 18 They must not eat the osprey. 19 They must not eat the heron, the hoopoe or the bat. The people must not eat them nor touch their dead bodies. They are not clean.[b]
20 Some insects fly in the air and walk on the ground. The people must not eat them. 21 Some insects can fly. And they have legs that can jump. They can eat those insects. 22 They can eat any of these. They include the locust, the cricket and the grasshopper. 23 They must not eat any other flying insect that has legs.
24 A person may touch the dead body of an animal that is not clean. If he does, that person is not clean either. They must keep him separate from the other people until the evening. 25 He must wash his clothes immediately.
26 An animal might not have feet that are in two separate parts. It is wrong to touch the dead body of this animal. Some animals do not bring food back into their mouths and eat it again. It is wrong to touch the dead bodies of these animals. 27 Some animals walk on four feet. It is wrong to touch the dead body of an animal that has paws. 28 A person who picks up the dead body of these animals must wash his clothes immediately. They must keep him separate from the people until the evening.
29 Some animals that walk on the ground are not clean. You must not touch a weasel, a rat or a mouse. 30 You must not touch any kind of lizard. 31 A person might touch the dead body of one of those animals. If he does, he will not be clean. So they must keep him separate from the people until evening. 32 A dead animal may fall onto something that someone made from wood, cloth or skin. That thing becomes unclean. A person must put it into water until the evening. Then it will be clean. 33 A dead animal might fall into a pot. Then the pot and the things in it are not clean. The person must break the pot. 34 The food or water from the pot is not clean. A person must not drink it or eat any of that food. Water from the pot may have touched some food. If it did, that food is not clean. You must not eat it. 35 If a dead animal falls onto a cooking pot, then the pot is not clean. You must break the pot. 36 If a dead animal falls into a fresh water stream, the stream stays clean. The pot that a person uses to get fresh water from the stream is clean. 37 If a dead animal falls onto some seeds, they stay clean. 38 A person might pour water on the seeds. A dead animal might fall on the wet seeds. Then those seeds are not clean.
39 An animal that is good for food might die. A man might touch its dead body. If he does, they must keep him separate from the people until the evening. 40 If a person eats meat from the body of the dead animal, he must wash his clothes. He will not be clean until the evening. If a person picks up the body of the dead animal, he must wash his clothes. He will not be clean until the evening.
41 The people must not eat small animals that move across the ground. 42 This means animals that pass across the ground on their stomachs. It also means animals that walk on four legs or many legs. 43 The people must not touch them or eat them. 44 God says, “I am the Lord your God. I am holy. Make yourselves holy. Do not touch any small animal that moves across the ground. If you do, you will not be clean or holy 45 I am the Lord who brought you away from Egypt. I became your God. So be holy because I am holy.” ’
46 These rules are about animals, birds and all animals that move in water or on the ground. 47 The people must learn to know which animals are clean. They must recognize which animals they can eat. And they must recognize which animals they must not eat.[c]
What a woman must do when she has a baby
12 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Say this to Israel's people. When a boy is born, his mother is not clean for seven days. When she is bleeding each month, the rule is the same. She is not clean. 3 Eight days after he is born, they must circumcise the boy. 4 The woman must wait for 35 days after the boy is born. All this time she must not touch anything that is holy. She must not go into the Tent of Meeting. After this time, she will become clean.
5 After a girl is born, her mother will not be clean for two weeks. The rule is the same as for each month, when she is bleeding. She will not be clean then. She must wait 66 days after a girl is born. Then she will become clean.
6 When the days to wait are finished, the woman must come to the door of the Tent of Meeting. She must bring to the priest a sheep that is one year old for a burnt offering. And she must bring a bird for a sin offering. The bird must be a pigeon or a dove. These are gifts to God. 7 The priest will offer the gifts to the Lord. Then the woman will become clean. These are the rules at the birth of a boy or of a girl.
8 If the woman does not have money to buy a sheep she can give two doves or pigeons. The priest will use one bird for a sin offering and he will burn the other one. That is how he will make atonement for her. Then she will be clean.’
Rules for diseases in the skin
13 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 ‘A person may have a kind of mark on his skin that might be a disease. He might give the disease to other people. If he has a mark like that, you must bring him to the priest. 3 The priest must look at the mark. If the hair on the mark is white, it might be a disease. If the mark is under the skin and on the skin it might be a disease. The priest must say that the person is not clean. 4 If the mark on the skin is white but not under the skin it might not be a disease. If the hair on the skin is not white, it might not be a bad disease. The priest must keep him separate from the people for seven days. 5 On the seventh day, the priest must look at the person. The mark may not be any bigger. If it is not, he must keep the person separate from the people for seven more days. 6 On the seventh day, the priest must look at the person. The mark may not be so dark and it may not be any bigger. The priest can say that the disease has left that person. The person must wash his clothes. 7 A person might see that the mark on his skin had grown. This might happen after the priest had said that the disease had left him. Then the person must go again to the priest. 8 The priest must look at the person. The mark might be bigger. The priest must say that the person has a disease. It is a disease that he could give to other people.
9 If a person has a disease on his skin, you must bring him to the priest. 10 The priest must look at the person. If the skin has a white mark and white hair on it, the person has a disease. If the mark has no skin on part of it, the person has a disease. But it may not be a disease that he could give to other people. 11 The priest must say that the person is not clean. The priest need not keep him separate from the people. He already has a disease.
12 If the disease is all over the body of the person, the priest must look at the person. 13 If the skin is all white the priest must say that the person is clean. 14 If there is an open hole in the skin, the person is not clean. 15 The priest will see the hole in the skin. He must say that the person has a disease. 16 The hole might close up and the skin might go white. If it does, the person must go to the priest. 17 The priest must look at the skin. It may be white. The priest must say that the disease has left the person. Then he will be clean.
18 A person might have a boil on his skin. Then it might get better. 19 If there is still a red or white mark on the skin, the person must go to the priest. 20 The priest must look at the person's skin. The red mark might be under the skin and the hair on the skin might be white. Then the priest must say that the person has a disease. The person is not clean. 21 If the red mark is not under the skin, it might not be a bad disease. There may not be any white hair on the red mark and the mark may be less red. If that is true, it might not be a bad disease. The priest must keep the person separate from the people for seven days. 22 If the red mark becomes bigger, the priest must say that the person has a bad disease. 23 If the red mark is not becoming bigger, the disease is getting better. It is a mark that remains on the skin from the boil. The priest must say that the person is now clean again.
24 A person who has burnt his skin might have a red or white mark. It might be where he burnt himself. 25 The priest must look at him. If the hair on the mark is white, it is a disease. If the mark is under the skin and on the skin, it is a disease. The priest must say that the person is not clean. He might give the disease to other people. 26 There may not be any white hair and the mark may not be under the skin. The disease is leaving the person. Then the priest must keep him separate from the people for seven days. 27 On the seventh day, the priest must look at the person. If the mark is getting bigger, it is a disease. The priest must say that the person is not clean. 28 If the mark is getting smaller, it is not a disease. The mark is because the person burnt himself. The priest must say that the person is clean.
29 A person may have a mark that hurts on his head. 30 The priest must look at the mark. The mark may be under the skin and on the skin, and it may have thin yellow hair on it. That is a bad disease. He could give that disease to other people. The priest must say that the person is not clean. 31 If the mark is not under the skin, it might not be a bad disease. If there is not any black hair on the mark, it might not be a disease. The priest must keep that person separate from the people for seven days. 32 On the seventh day, the priest must look at the mark that is hurting. The mark might not be under the skin. There might not be any yellow hair on it. 33 The person must cut the hair off his head. He must not cut the hair off where the mark is. Then the priest must keep the person separate from everyone else for seven more days. 34 On the seventh day, the priest must look at the mark that is hurting. The mark may be no bigger and not under the skin. The priest can say that the person is clean. The person must wash his clothes. 35 The mark might get bigger after the priest has said that the disease has left the person. 36 The priest must look at the mark. If it is bigger, he need not look for yellow hair. The person is not clean. 37 The mark may be no bigger and black hair may have grown on it. If that is true, the disease has left the person.
38 If a person has white marks on his skin, 39 the priest must look at the marks. If the colour of the marks is not bright, it is not a disease. The person is clean.
40 The hair may fall from the head of a man until he is bald. That man remains clean. 41 If the hair falls from the front of the man's head, it is bald. The man is clean. 42 If the man has a red and white mark on his bald head, it is a disease. 43 The priest must look at the red and white mark on the bald head. 44 The priest must say that the man has a disease. It is a disease that he might give to other people,
45 A person with this disease must tear his clothes. He must not comb his hair. He must cover the lower part of his face. He must shout, “I am not clean.” 46 He must be alone all the time that he has a disease. He must live outside the camp.
Rules for clothes that have mildew
47 Clothes might become bad because of mildew.[d] 48 People might have made the clothes from wool, linen or leather. 49 If the mark in the clothes is green or red, the mildew is growing. People must show these clothes to the priest. 50 The priest must look at the mildew. And he must keep the clothes separate from other clothes for seven days. 51 On the seventh day, the priest must look at the clothes. If the disease is getting bigger, the person must not wear them. 52 The priest must burn the wool, leather or linen clothes. They have a disease that will destroy them.
53 When the priest looks at the clothes, the mildew might not be getting bigger. 54 He must tell the people that they must wash the clothes. The people must keep these clothes separate from their other clothes for seven more days. 55 The priest will look at the clothes after the people have washed them. If the mildew still seems the same, the people must not wear the clothes. The people must burn the clothes whether the mark is inside or outside them. 56 The colour of the mark might be less bright, after the people have washed the clothes. If it is, the priest must tear the marked part out of the clothes. 57 If the mildew comes back to the clothes, the people must burn them. 58 If there is no mildew in the washed clothes, the people must wash the clothes again. Then the clothes will be clean.’
59 These are the rules for mildew in linen cloth. They are rules for wool or leather clothes. They tell the priest how to know whether they are clean or not clean.
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