Leviticus, 15

1. After the death of Aaron's two sons, who died when they approached the LORD'S presence, the LORD spoke to Moses

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and said:

2. and said to him, "Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he pleases into the sanctuary, inside the veil, in front of the propitiatory on the ark; otherwise, when I reveal myself in a cloud above the propitiatory, he will die.

2. 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: "When a man has a discharge from his body, that discharge is unclean.

3. Only in this way may Aaron enter the sanctuary. He shall bring a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a holocaust.

3. While the discharge continues, the nature of his uncleanness is as follows: "Whether his body allows the discharge to flow or whether it retains it, he is unclean.

4. He shall wear the sacred linen tunic, with the linen drawers next his flesh, gird himself with the linen sash and put on the linen miter. But since these vestments are sacred, he shall not put them on until he has first bathed his body in water.

4. "Any bed the man lies on and anything he sits on will be unclean.

5. From the Israelite community he shall receive two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a holocaust.

5. "Anyone who touches his bed must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

6. "Aaron shall bring in the bullock, his sin offering to atone for himself and for his household.

6. "Anyone who sits where the man has sat must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

7. Taking the two male goats and setting them before the LORD at the entrance of the meeting tent,

7. "Anyone who touches the body of the man with the discharge must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

8. he shall cast lots to determine which one is for the LORD and which for Azazel.

8. "If the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

9. The goat that is determined by lot for the LORD, Aaron shall bring in and offer up as a sin offering.

9. "Any saddle the man has ridden on will be unclean.

10. But the goat determined by lot for Azazel he shall set alive before the LORD, so that with it he may make atonement by sending it off to Azazel in the desert.

10. "All those who touch any object that has been under him will be unclean until evening. "Anyone who picks up such an object must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

11. "Thus shall Aaron offer up the bullock, his sin offering, to atone for himself and for his family. When he has slaughtered it,

11. "All those whom the man with the discharge touches without having washed his hands must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

12. he shall take a censer full of glowing embers from the altar before the LORD, as well as a double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, and bringing them inside the veil,

12. "The earthenware vessel he touches must be broken and any wooden utensil must be rinsed.

13. there before the LORD he shall put incense on the fire, so that a cloud of incense may cover the propitiatory over the commandments; else he will die.

13. "Once the man with the discharge is cured, he will allow seven days for his purification. He will wash his clothes and wash his body in running water and he will be clean.

14. Taking some of the bullock's blood, he shall sprinkle it with his finger on the fore part of the propitiatory and likewise sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times in front of the propitiatory.

14. On the eighth day he will take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest.

15. "Then he shall slaughter the people's sin-offering goat, and bringing its blood inside the veil, he shall do with it as he did with the bullock's blood, sprinkling it on the propitiatory and before it.

15. The priest will offer one of them as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a burnt offering. And in this way the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him before Yahweh for his discharge.

16. Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary because of all the sinful defilements and faults of the Israelites. He shall do the same for the meeting tent, which is set up among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

16. "When a man has a seminal discharge, he must wash his whole body with water and will be unclean until evening.

17. No one else may be in the meeting tent from the time he enters the sanctuary to make atonement until he departs. When he has made atonement for himself and his household, as well as for the whole Israelite community,

17. Any clothing or leather touched by the seminal discharge must be washed and will be unclean until evening.

18. he shall come out to the altar before the LORD and make atonement for it also. Taking some of the bullock's and the goat's blood, he shall put it on the horns around the altar,

18. When a woman has had intercourse with a man, both of them must wash and will be unclean until evening.

19. and with his finger sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times. Thus he shall render it clean and holy, purged of the defilements of the Israelites.

19. "Whenever a woman has a discharge and the discharge from her body is of blood, she will remain in a state of menstrual pollution for seven days. "Anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.

20. "When he has completed the atonement rite for the sanctuary, the meeting tent and the altar, Aaron shall bring forward the live goat.

20. "Anything she lies on in this polluted state will be unclean; anything she sits on will be unclean.

21. Laying both hands on its head, he shall confess over it all the sinful faults and transgressions of the Israelites, and so put them on the goat's head. He shall then have it led into the desert by an attendant.

21. "Anyone who touches her bed must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

22. Since the goat is to carry off their iniquities to an isolated region, it must be sent away into the desert.

22. "Anyone who touches anything she has sat on must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

23. "After Aaron has again gone into the meeting tent, he shall strip off and leave in the sanctuary the linen vestments he had put on when he entered there.

23. If there is anything on the bed or where she is sitting, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.

24. After bathing his body with water in a sacred place, he shall put on his vestments, and then come out and offer his own and the people's holocaust, in atonement for himself and for the people,

24. "If a man goes so far as to sleep with her, he will contract her menstrual pollution and will be unclean for seven days. Any bed he lies on will be unclean.

25. and also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

25. "If a woman has a prolonged discharge of blood outside the period, or if the period is prolonged, during the time this discharge lasts she will be in the same state of uncleanness as during her monthly periods.

26. "The man who has led away the goat for Azazel shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; only then may he enter the camp.

26. Any bed she lies on during the time this discharge lasts will be polluted in the same way as the bed she lies on during her monthly periods. Anything she sits on will be unclean as during her monthly periods.

27. The sin-offering bullock and goat whose blood was brought into the sanctuary to make atonement, shall be taken outside the camp, where their hides and flesh and offal shall be burned up in the fire.

27. Anyone who touches it will be unclean and must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening.

28. The one who burns them shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; only then may he enter the camp.

28. "Once she is cured of her discharge, she will allow seven days to go by; after that she will be clean.

29. "This shall be an everlasting ordinance for you: on the tenth day of the seventh month every one of you, whether a native or a resident alien, shall mortify himself and shall do no work.

29. On the eighth day she will take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

30. Since on this day atonement is made for you to make you clean, so that you may be cleansed of all your sins before the LORD,

30. The priest will offer one of them as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a burnt offering. And in this way the priest will perform the rite of expiation for her before Yahweh for the discharge which made her unclean.

31. by everlasting ordinance it shall be a most solemn sabbath for you, on which you must mortify yourselves.

31. "Hence you will warn the Israelites against contracting a state of uncleanness, rather than incurring death by defiling my Dwelling which is among them.

32. "This atonement is to be made by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to the priesthood in succession to his father. He shall wear the linen garments, the sacred vestments,

32. "Such is the law governing a man with a discharge or who is made unclean by a seminal discharge,

33. and make atonement for the sacred sanctuary, the meeting tent and the altar, as well as for the priests and all the people of the community.

33. a woman in a state of pollution due to menstruation, a man or a woman with a discharge, or a man who sleeps with a woman when she is unclean." '

34. This, then, shall be an everlasting ordinance for you: once a year atonement shall be made for all the sins of the Israelites." Thus was it done, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

34.