The Holy Bible

Bodily Discharges

Lord said to Moses and Aaron,  2  “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, he is unclean because of his discharge.  3  This is how his discharge will make him unclean: whether the discharge flows from his body or is blocked.

4 ‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean.  5  Anyone who touches his bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.  6  Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge has sat on is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

7 ‘Whoever touches the body of the man who has had a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

8 ‘If the man with a discharge spits on anyone who is clean, he is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

9 ‘Any saddle the man with the discharge rides on will be unclean.  10  Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries any of those things must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

11  ‘If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands with water, the person who was touched must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

12  ‘Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed with water.

• The man or woman made unclean through a bodily discharge was instructed to carry out the process of ceremonial cleansing, and on the eighth day after the discharge bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the Tent of Meeting for a sacrifice to the Lord.

By Horia Varlan [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

13  ‘When a man who has had a discharge is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean.  14  On the eighth day he must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest.  15  The priest is to sacrifice them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.

16  ‘When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening.  17  Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean until evening.  18  When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both of them must bathe with water, and they will be unclean until evening.

19  ‘When a woman has a discharge of blood that is part of the regular discharge from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstrual period for seven days, and anyone her touches her will be unclean until evening.

20  ‘Anything that she lies on during her menstrual period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.  21  Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.  22  Whoever touches anything she was sitting on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.  23  Whether it is on the bed or anything she was sitting on, when he touches it he will be unclean until evening.

24  ‘If a man lies with her and blood from her menstrual flow gets on him, he will be unclean for seven days, and any bed he lies on will be unclean.

25  ‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge that continues beyond the time of her menstrual impurity, she will be unclean all the days she has the discharge, as in the days of her menstrual impurity.  26  Any bed she lies on while the discharge continues will be unclean, as her bed is during her menstrual period. Anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her menstrual period.  27  Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

28  ‘When she is cleansed of her discharge, she is to count off seven days, and after that she will be clean.  29  On the eighth day she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.  30  The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way, the priest will make atonement before the Lord for her because of her unclean discharge.

31  ‘Thus you shall keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling My tabernacle that is among them.

32  ‘This is the law for someone with a discharge, for a man who has an emission of semen, and is made unclean by it;  33  and for a woman who is her menstrual period; anyone who has a discharge, whether a man or a woman; and for a man who lies with an unclean woman.”