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Purification From Bodily Discharges
15 The Lord told Moses and Aaron to speak to the Israelites and to tell them this:
2 Whenever a man has a discharge flowing from his flesh,[a] that discharge is unclean.
3 This is the law[b] about how a bodily discharge makes someone unclean: Whether his flesh secretes a discharge or it has a blocked discharge, ⎣he is unclean. As long as his flesh has a discharge or his body blocks a discharge,⎦[c] this makes him unclean.
4 Any bedding that the man with a discharge lies on is unclean, and every object on which he sits becomes unclean. 5 Anyone who touches his bedding must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. 6 Whoever sits on any object on which the man with a discharge sat must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. 7 Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset.
8 If the man with a discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset.
9 Any saddle on which the man with a discharge rides becomes unclean. 10 Everyone who touches anything that was under him will become unclean until sunset, and whoever carries these things must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. 11 If the man with a discharge touches anyone without washing his hands, that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. 12 Any clay pottery that the man with a discharge touches must be broken, and any vessel or utensil made of wood must be rinsed with water.
13 When the man with a discharge has been cleansed from his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his process of purification, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water from a flowing source; then, he will be clean. 14 On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. 15 The priest shall present the offering for them—one bird as a sin offering and the other as a whole burnt offering. This is how the priest shall make atonement for the man in the presence of the Lord, from his discharge.
16 When a man has an emission of semen,[d] he must bathe his whole body in water and remain unclean until sunset. 17 Any garment or leather with an emission of semen on it must be washed in water and remain unclean until sunset.
18 Also if a man lies down with a woman and has an emission of semen, they must bathe in water and remain unclean until sunset.
19 When a woman has a discharge of blood from her flesh, her menstrual impurity[e] will last for seven days. Anyone who touches her will remain unclean until sunset. 20 Everything on which she lies during her monthly period is unclean, and everything on which she sits becomes unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset, 22 and anyone who touches anything on which she sat must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. 23 If the uncleanness is on the bed or on anything else on which she is sitting when he touches it, he will become unclean until sunset. 24 And if a man lies down with her, and her menstrual impurity comes in contact with him, he will be unclean for seven days. Any bed on which he lies will be unclean.
25 When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days besides during the time of her monthly period, or when she has a discharge that lasts longer than her monthly period, she will be unclean for as many days as her discharge continues, just as she is during her monthly period. 26 During her discharge any bed on which she lies is to be treated just like the bed during her monthly period, and every piece of furniture on which she sits will be unclean, as it would be during the impurity of her monthly period. 27 Anyone who touches them will become unclean. Any such people must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset.
28 When she is cleansed from her discharge, she shall count off seven days, and after that she will be clean. 29 On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons for herself and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 30 The priest shall offer one dove as a sin offering and the other as a whole burnt offering. This is how the priest is to make atonement for her in the presence of the Lord, from the impurity of her discharge.
31 In this way you shall separate the people of Israel from their impurity, so that they do not die in their impurity because they defiled my dwelling place that is in their midst.
32 This is the law for those who have a discharge: for a man who has an emission of semen by which he becomes unclean, 33 for a woman who is not well because of her menstrual period, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies down with a woman who is unclean.
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who had died when they approached the presence of the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he must not enter into the Holy Place at any time he chooses by going inside the veil which is in front of the atonement seat[f] that is on the ark. This is so that he will not die, for I appear in the cloud over the atonement seat.”
3 This is how Aaron shall enter the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a whole burnt offering. 4 He is to wear a sacred linen tunic, with linen underwear covering his flesh, with the linen sash as his belt, and with his head wrapped with the linen turban.[g] These are the sacred garments. He must wash his body with water and then put the garments on. 5 From the congregation of the people of Israel he shall also receive two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a whole burnt offering.
6 Aaron shall present the bull for his own sin offering, to make atonement for himself and for his household.
7 He shall take the two male goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8 Aaron is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot marked “for the Lord” and the other lot marked “for the scapegoat.”[h] 9 Aaron shall bring forward the goat that received the lot “for the Lord,” to prepare it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat that received the lot marked “for the scapegoat” is to be kept alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it[i] in order to send it off into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
11 After Aaron has presented the bull for his sin offering to make atonement for himself and for his household, he shall slaughter the bull for his sin offering. 12 Then he is to take a full pan of glowing coals from the top of the altar, which is before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and bring them inside the veil. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud from the incense covers the atonement seat that is over the Testimony,[j] so he will not die. 14 He is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the surface of the atonement seat on its east side.[k] He is also to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement seat.
15 He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering of the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he had done with the blood of the bull. He is to sprinkle it on the atonement seat and in front of the atonement seat. 16 He shall make atonement for the sanctuary to cleanse it from the uncleanness of the Israelites and from their rebellions and all their sins. This is what he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, which dwells in the midst of Israel’s uncleanness. 17 When he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary, no other person may be in the Tent of Meeting until he has come out. In this way he shall make atonement for himself and his household, as well as for the entire assembly of Israel.
18 He shall then come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and smear it all around the horns of the altar. 19 With his finger he is to sprinkle some of the blood upon it seven times. In this way he is to purify it and set it apart from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
20 When he has finished making atonement to cleanse the sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 Then Aaron shall lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the guilt of the people of Israel and all their rebellions and all their sins. He is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness in the custody of an appointed man. 22 So the goat will carry all their guilt on itself to a remote, desolate place, and the man will send the goat away into the wilderness.
23 Then Aaron shall enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the special linen garments that he had put on to enter into the sanctuary, and leave them there. 24 He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his regular garments. Then he shall go out and offer the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He shall turn the fat from the sin offering into smoke on the altar.
26 The man who releases the goat designated as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water. After that he may re-enter the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood has been brought in to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be brought outside the camp. Their hide and flesh and manure are to be burned in fire. 28 The man who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water. After that he may re-enter the camp.
Commandments and Traditions
7 The Pharisees and some of the experts in the law came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw some of his disciples eating bread with unclean (that is, unwashed) hands. 3 In fact, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they scrub their hands with a fist,[a] holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.[b] And there are many other traditions they adhere to, such as the washing[c] of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.[d] 5 The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead they eat bread with unclean hands.”
6 He answered them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written:
These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 They worship me in vain, teaching human rules as if they
were doctrines.[e]
8 “You abandon God’s commandment but hold to human tradition like the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”[f] 9 He continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside God’s commandment to keep[g] your own tradition. 10 For example, Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[h] and ‘Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death.’[i] 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you might have received from me is corban”’[j] (which means an offering), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 So you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. You do many things like that.”
14 He called the crowd to him again and said, “Everyone, listen to me and understand. 15 There is nothing outside of a man that can make him unclean by going into him. But the things that come out of a man are what make a man unclean. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”[k]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered a house, his disciples asked him about this illustration. 18 He said, “Are you lacking in understanding too? Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man from the outside cannot make him unclean? 19 For it does not enter his heart but goes into his stomach and goes out of him into the latrine—in this way all foods are purified.”[l]
20 He continued, “What comes out of a man, that is what makes a man unclean. 21 In fact, from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual sins, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained immorality, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and make a person unclean.”
Messiah’s Prayer in Distress
11 Lord, you do not hold back your compassion from me.
Let your mercy and your truth always protect me,
12 although troubles without number surround me.
Punishments for my guilt have smothered me, so I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head, so my courage deserts me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to save me.
Lord, hurry to help me.
14 Let all who seek to end my life be frustrated and completely confused.[a]
Let everyone who desires my ruin be turned back and disgraced.
15 Let those who say to me, “Aha! We got you!” be dismayed,
because they have been put to shame.
16 But let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation always say,
“The Lord is great!”
17 Yet I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think about me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of a discerning person,
but a rod is appropriate for the back of one who lacks sense.
14 Wise people store up knowledge,
but the mouth of a stubborn fool brings ruin.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.