The Daily Audio Bible

The Law About Bodily Discharges

15 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: ² Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When any man has a discharge out of his body, his discharge is unclean. ³ This is the instruction for his uncleanness in his discharge, whether the discharge from his body flows or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.

⁴ Every bed on which the man with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. ⁵ Whoever touches the bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ⁶ And whoever sits on anything where the man sat who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁷ And whoever touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁸ If the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁹ Any saddle on which the man with a discharge rides shall be unclean. ¹⁰ Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and he who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹¹ Whomever he who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

¹² The earthen vessel that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³ When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his issue, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water, and shall be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ And the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.

¹⁶ If any man has a seminal emission, then he shall wash all his body in water and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁷ Every garment and all leather on which there is seminal emission shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman, and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁹ If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁰ Everything that she lies on in her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Also, everything that she sits on shall be unclean. ²¹ Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ²² Whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ²³ Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁴ If any man lies with her, and her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed where he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵ If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall be in uncleanness, as in the days of her impurity. She shall be unclean. ²⁶ Every bed that she lies on all the days of her discharge shall be for impurity, and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. ²⁷ Whoever touches those things shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

²⁸ But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹ On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ³⁰ The priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

³¹ Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling My tabernacle that is among them.

³² This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has a seminal emission and thus becomes unclean, ³³ and for her who is sick from her menstruation, and for him who has a discharge, for anyone male or female, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

The Day of Atonement^(A)

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near to the Lord and died. ² The Lord said to Moses: Speak to Aaron your brother so that he does not come at any time into the Holy Place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is on the ark, so that he will not die, for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.

³ Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and he shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and shall be girded with a linen sash, and shall be wearing the linen turban. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water and then put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ Aaron shall offer his bull for the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁸ Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ Aaron shall bring the goat on which the lot of the Lord falls and offer him for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot falls to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement with it, that it may be sent away as a scapegoat into the wilderness.

¹¹ Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering for himself. ¹² And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil. ¹³ And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. ¹⁴ And he shall take of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the eastern side, and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle from the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and bring its blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it over and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶ And he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins, and so he shall do for the tent of meeting that remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ There shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out and has made atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

¹⁸ Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and he shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. ¹⁹ He shall sprinkle from the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

²⁰ When he has made an end of atonement for the Holy Place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, then he shall bring the live goat. ²¹ And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away by the hand of a designated man into the wilderness. ²² And the goat shall bear on it all their iniquities to a desolate land, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

²³ Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴ And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.

²⁶ He who releases the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. They shall burn in the fire their hides, their flesh, and their refuse. ²⁸ He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

The Tradition of the Elders^(A)

7 The Pharisees and certain scribes who came from Jerusalem gathered around Him. ² When they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, ritually unwashed hands, they found fault. ³ For the Pharisees and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands ritually, do not eat, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the market, unless they wash, they do not eat. And there are many other traditions which they have received and observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and bronze vessels and dining couches.

⁵ So the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”

⁶ He answered, “Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

⁹ And He said to them, “You full well reject the commandment of God so that you may keep your own tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’^[b] and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’^{[c] 11} But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “It is Corban,” that is to say, “What you would have profited from me is a gift to God,” he shall be free.’ ¹² Then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, ¹³ making the word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have delivered. And you do many similar things.”

¹⁴ When He had called all the people to Him, He said, “Listen to Me, every one of you, and understand: ¹⁵ There is nothing from outside a man that by entering him can defile him. But the things which come out of the man are what defile him. ¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁷ When He had left the people and entered the house, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Are you so without understanding also? Do you not know that anything from the outside that enters a man cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not enter his heart, but into his stomach, and goes out into the sewer, thus purifying all foods?”

²⁰ And He said, “What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, ²² theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”