The Third Book of Moses: Leviticus

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

- Chapter 12 -

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: A woman, if she has received the seed to bear a male, shall be unclean for seven days, just as in the days of separation due to menstruation.

And on the eighth day, the little infant shall be circumcised.

Yet truly, she herself shall remain for thirty-three days in the blood of her purification. She shall not touch anything holy, nor shall she enter into the Sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.

But if she will bear a female, she shall be unclean for two weeks, according to the custom of her monthly flow, and she shall remain in the blood of her purification for sixty-six days.

And when the days of her purification have been completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a one-year-old lamb as a holocaust, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for sin, and she shall deliver them to the priest.(a)

He shall offer them in the sight of the Lord, and he shall pray for her. And so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for one who bears a male or a female.

And if her hand has not obtained or been able to offer a lamb, she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a holocaust, and the other for sin. And the priest shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed.

Footnotes

(a)12:6 The time for bringing the sacrifice to the tabernacle of the testimony is after the days of purification are completed, but it does not specify that the sacrifice has to be made on exactly the next day after those days of seclusion. There is no exact day given, merely sometime after the days of purification. An exact day is not specified so that the mother can use her discretion and prudence, because the child is still very young and needs much care (especially in ancient times, prior to modern medicine).(Conte)