God's New Bible

The Third Book of Moses: Leviticus

Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 15 -

(Deuteronomy 23:9–14)
1
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
2
Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them: The man who undergoes a flow of seed shall be unclean.(a)
3
And then he shall be judged subject to this fault, if a filthy fluid, at each moment, adheres to his flesh and gathers there.(b)
4
Every bed on which he sleeps shall be unclean, and every place where he sits.
5
If any man has touched his couch, he shall wash his clothes, and having washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
6
If he will have sat where that man has sat, he shall also wash his clothes, and having washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
7
Whoever has touched his flesh shall wash his clothes, and having washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
8
If such a man has cast his spittle upon him who is clean, he shall wash his clothes, and having washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
9
The saddle on which he has sat shall be unclean.
10
And whatever has been under him who has undergone a flow of seed shall be polluted until evening. Whoever carries any of these things shall wash his clothes, and having washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.(c)
11
All whom such a one has touched, not having washed his hands before, shall wash his clothes, and having washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
12
If he has touched an earthen vessel, it shall be broken. But if it is a wooden vessel, it shall be washed with water.

The Cleansing of Men

13
If he who suffers from this affliction will have been healed, he shall number seven days after his cleansing, and having washed his clothes and his entire body in living water, he shall be clean.
14
Then, on the eighth day, he shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and he shall advance, in the sight of the Lord, toward the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and he shall give these to the priest,
15
who shall offer one for sin, and the other as a holocaust. And he shall pray for him before the Lord, so that he may be cleansed from the flow of his seed.
16
A man from whom the seed of sexual intercourse goes out shall wash his entire body with water, and he shall be unclean until evening.
17
The garment or skin which he will have, he shall wash with water, and it shall be unclean until evening.
18
The woman with whom he has had sexual intercourse shall be washed with water, and she shall be unclean until evening.

The Uncleanness of Women

19
The woman who, at the return of the month, undergoes the flow of blood shall be separated for seven days.
20
All who will touch her shall be unclean until evening.
21
And everything on which she sleeps or sits, in the days of her separation, shall be polluted.
22
Whoever will have touched her bed shall wash his clothes, and having washed himself with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
23
Anyone who will have touched any item on which she has sat shall wash his clothes, and having washed himself with water, he shall be polluted until evening.
24
If a man has sexual intercourse with her in the time of her monthly flow of blood, he shall be unclean for seven days, and every bed on which he sleeps shall be polluted.
25
The woman who undergoes a flow of blood many days beyond her time of menstruation, or whose blood does not cease to flow after the menstrual blood, as long as she is subject to this affliction, she shall be unclean, just as if she were in her time of menstruation.
26
Every bed on which she sleeps, and every item on which she sits, shall be polluted.
27
Whoever will have touched these shall wash his clothes, and having washed himself with water, he shall be unclean until evening.

The Cleansing of Women

28
If the blood has stopped and has ceased to flow, she shall number seven days for her purification,
29
and on the eighth day she shall offer for herself, to the priest, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
30
And he shall offer one for sin, and the other as a holocaust, and he shall pray for her before the Lord, and for the flow of her uncleanness.
31
Therefore, you shall teach the sons of Israel to be cautious of uncleanness, so that they may not die in their filth, when they will have polluted my tabernacle, which is among them.
32
This is the law of him who undergoes a flow of seed, or who is polluted by sexual intercourse,
33
and of her who is separated in the time of menstruation, or who has a continual flow of blood, and of the man who sleeps with her.(d)

Footnotes

(a)15:2 Issue of seed shall be unclean:These legal uncleannesses were instituted in order to give the people a horror of carnal impurities.(Challoner)
(b)15:3 Nocturnal emissions are mentioned in verse 15:2, but this next verse, and the following verses, refer to something further, such as an infection or disease that would cause an infected fluid to continually leak from his flesh. Hence the reference in verse 15:13 to being healed of a disease.(Conte)
(c)15:10 The text says ‘flow of seed’ but the meaning is more general, encompassing various diseases that might produce some type of infected fluid.(Conte)
(d)15:33 There is a profound theological reason why such things are treated as ritual impurity: all these things are a result of the fall from grace of Adam and Eve, including sexual intercourse as a means of procreation. Ritual impurity is an acknowledgement of our fallen state, but it is a different matter than culpable personal sin.(Conte)
(Deuteronomy 23:9–14)
1
The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2
Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean.
3
This shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
4
“‘Every bed on which he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything he sits on shall be unclean.
5
Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
6
He who sits on anything on which the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
7
“‘He who 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 he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
9
“‘Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean.
10
Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries 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, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
12
“‘The earthen vessel, which he who has the discharge touches, shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

The Cleansing of Men

13
“‘When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
14
“‘On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest.
15
The priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD for his discharge.
16
“‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
17
Every garment and every skin which the semen is on 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.

The Uncleanness of Women

19
“‘If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
20
“‘Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also 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 that she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
23
If it is on the bed, or on anything she sits on, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening.
24
“‘If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on shall be unclean.
25
“‘If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period. She is unclean.
26
Every bed she lies on all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her period. Everything she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her period.
27
Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

The Cleansing of Women

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 young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.
30
The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the uncleanness of her discharge.
31
“‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’”
32
This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it;
33
and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.