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Cleansing Unhealthiness
15 The Lord also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘(A)When any man has a discharge from his [a]body, [b]his discharge is unclean. 3 This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge. 4 Every bed on which the man with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5 Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; 6 and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 7 Also whoever touches the [c]man with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 8 Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 9 Every saddle on which the man with the discharge rides becomes unclean. 10 Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and the one who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 11 Likewise, whomever the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 12 However, an (B)earthenware vessel which the man with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.
13 ‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he (C)shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in [d]running water and will become clean. 14 Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself (D)two turtledoves or two young doves, and come before the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest; 15 and the priest shall offer them, (E)one as a [e]sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So (F)the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord because of his discharge.
16 ‘(G)Now if a [f]man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening. 17 As for any garment or any leather on which there is a seminal emission, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening. 18 If a man sleeps with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be (H)unclean until evening.
19 ‘(I)When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20 Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 22 Whoever touches any object on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 23 Whether it be on the bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 (J)If a man actually sleeps with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25 ‘(K)Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond [g]that period, for all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though [h]in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. 26 Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like [i]her bed at menstruation; and every object on which she sits shall be unclean, like [j]her uncleanness at that time. 27 Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 28 When she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean. 29 Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young doves, and bring them to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 30 And the priest shall offer the (L)one as a [k]sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord because of her impure discharge.’
31 “And so you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their (M)defiling My [l]tabernacle that is among them.” 32 This is the law for the one with a discharge, and for the man [m]who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it, 33 and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity, and for the one who has a discharge, whether a male or a female, or a man who sleeps with an unclean woman.
Law of Atonement
16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after (N)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. 2 The Lord said to Moses:
“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter (O)at [n]any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the [o]atoning cover which is on the ark, or he will die; for (P)I will appear in the cloud over the [p]atoning cover. 3 Aaron shall enter the Holy Place with this: with a [q]bull as a [r](Q)sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the (R)holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his [s]body, and he shall be wrapped about the waist with the linen sash and the linen turban wound around his forehead (these are holy garments). He shall (S)bathe his [t]body in water and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel (T)two male goats as a [u]sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 Then (U)Aaron shall offer the bull as the [v]sin offering, which is for himself, so that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. 7 He shall then take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 8 Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for [w]the [x]scapegoat. 9 Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a [y]sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot for [z]the [aa]scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make (V)atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness [ab]as the [ac]scapegoat.
11 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the [ad]sin offering (W)which is for himself and make atonement for himself and (X)for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the [ae]sin offering which is for himself. 12 He shall take a (Y)firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and [af]two handfuls of finely ground (Z)sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. 13 He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of incense may cover the (AA)atoning cover that is on the ark of the testimony, (AB)otherwise he will die. 14 Moreover, (AC)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it (AD)with his finger on the atoning cover on the east side; also in front of the atoning cover he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering, (AE)which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the atoning cover and in front of the atoning cover. 16 (AF)He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall do so for the tent of meeting which remains with them in the midst of their impurities. 17 When he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, so that he may make atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it; he shall take some of the blood from the bull and some of the blood from the goat, and (AG)put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. 19 (AH)With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and consecrate it from the impurities of the sons of Israel.
20 “When he finishes atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. 21 Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and (AI)confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready. 22 Then the goat shall carry on itself all their wrongdoings to an [ag]isolated territory; he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off (AJ)the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. 24 And (AK)he shall bathe his [ah]body with water in a holy place and put on (AL)his clothes, 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 Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 The one who released the goat [ai]as the [aj]scapegoat (AM)shall wash his clothes and bathe his [ak]body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 But the bull of the [al]sin offering and the goat of the [am]sin offering, (AN)whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. 28 Then the (AO)one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; and afterward he shall come into the camp.
Followers of Tradition
7 (A)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came (B)from Jerusalem, 2 and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with [a](C)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they [b]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the (D)tradition of the elders; 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they [c]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the [d]washing of (E)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the (F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with (G)[e]unholy hands?” 6 But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘(H)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7 (I)And in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the (J)tradition of men.”
9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your (K)tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘(L)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘(M)The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is [f]certainly to be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is (N)Corban (that is, [g]given to God),’ 12 you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thereby invalidating the word of God by your (O)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
The Heart of Man
14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person[h].”
17 And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, (P)His disciples asked Him about the parable. 18 And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and [i]is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared (Q)all foods (R)clean.) 20 And He was saying, “(S)That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person. 21 For from within, out of the [j]hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, 22 deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, [k](T)envy, slander, [l]pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”
11 You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[a]Your (A)mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.
12 For evils beyond number have (B)surrounded me;
My (C)guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (D)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (E)heart has [b]failed me.
13 (F)Be pleased, Lord, to rescue me;
(G)Hurry, Lord, to help me.
14 May those be (H)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (I)seek my [c]life to destroy it;
May those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [d]in my hurt.
15 May those (J)be [e]appalled because of their shame
Who (K)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (L)May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation continually (M)say,
“The Lord be exalted!”
17 But (N)I am afflicted and needy;
(O)May the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my savior;
Do not delay, my God.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.