The Daily Audio Bible

Rules About a Man’s Body

15 The Lord also said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Say to the people of Israel: ‘When a fluid comes from a man’s body, he is unclean. ³ It doesn’t matter if the fluid flows freely or if it is blocked from flowing.

⁴ “‘The man who discharges the body fluid may lie on a bed. If he does, that bed becomes unclean. Everything he sits on becomes unclean. ⁵ Also anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe in water. This person will be unclean until evening. ⁶ Someone might sit on something that the man who discharges the fluid sat on. If he does, he must wash his clothes and bathe in water. He will be unclean until evening. ⁷ Anyone who touches the man who discharges the body fluid must wash his clothes and bathe in water. The person will be unclean until evening.

⁸ “‘The man who discharges the body fluid might spit on a clean person. If so, the person who was clean must wash his clothes. He must bathe in water. The person will be unclean until evening. ⁹ Everything on which the man who is unclean has ridden will become unclean. ¹⁰ Someone might touch something that was under the man who discharges a body fluid. If he does, he will be unclean until evening. Someone might carry these things that were under the man who discharges a body fluid. This person must wash his clothes and bathe in water. He will be unclean until evening.

¹¹ “‘The man who discharges a body fluid may not have washed his hands in water. If he touches another person, that person must wash his clothes. That person must bathe in water. He will be unclean until evening.

¹² “‘A man who discharges a body fluid may touch a clay bowl. That bowl must be broken. If he touches a wooden bowl, that bowl must be washed in water.

¹³ “‘A man who discharges a body fluid may be made clean. He must count seven days for himself for his cleansing. He must wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water. Then he will be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons. He must come before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. He will give the two birds to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest will offer the birds. One bird is for a sin offering. The other is for a burnt offering. So the priest will make that man clean so he can belong to the Lord again.

¹⁶ “‘If semen^[a] goes out from a man, he must bathe in water. He will be unclean until evening. ¹⁷ If the fluid gets on any clothing or leather, it must be washed with water. It will be unclean until evening.

¹⁸ “‘If a man has physical relations with a woman and semen comes out, both people must bathe in water. They will be unclean until evening.

Rules About a Woman’s Body

¹⁹ “‘When a woman has her monthly period, she is unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Anything she lies on during this time will be unclean. Everything she sits on during that time will be unclean. ²¹ Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe in water. That person will be unclean until evening. ²² Anyone who touches something she has sat on must wash his clothes and bathe in water. That person will be unclean until evening. ²³ It does not matter if the person touched the woman’s bed or something she sat on. That person will be unclean until evening.

²⁴ “‘A man might have physical relations with a woman during her monthly period. If he does, he will be unclean for seven days. Every bed he lies on will also be unclean.

²⁵ “‘A woman might have a loss of blood for many days. It may not be during her regular monthly period. Or she may continue to have a loss of blood after her regular period. If she does, she will be unclean, as she is during her monthly period. She will be unclean for as long as she continues to bleed. ²⁶ Any bed she lies on during all the time of her bleeding will be like her bed during her regular monthly period. Everything she sits on will be unclean. It will be like during her regular monthly period.

²⁷ “‘If anyone touches those things, that person will be unclean. He must wash his clothes and bathe in water. He will be unclean until evening. ²⁸ When the woman becomes clean from her bleeding, she must wait seven days. After this she will be clean. ²⁹ Then on the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons. She must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. ³⁰ Then the priest must offer one bird for a sin offering. He must offer the other bird for a whole burnt offering. So the priest will make her clean so she can belong to the Lord again.

³¹ “‘So you must warn the people of Israel to stay separated from things that make them unclean. If you don’t warn the people, they might make my Holy Tent unclean. And then they would have to die!’”

³² These are the teachings for the man who discharges a body fluid. These are the teachings for men who become unclean from semen^[b] coming out of their bodies. ³³ These are the teachings for women who become unclean from their monthly period. These are the teachings for anyone who becomes unclean by having physical relations with another person who is unclean.

The Day of Cleansing

16 Now two of Aaron’s sons had died while offering incense to the Lord. At that time the Lord spoke to Moses. ² He said, “Talk to your brother Aaron. Tell him there are times when he cannot go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant is. If he goes in when I appear in a cloud over the lid on the Ark of the Covenant, he will die.

³ “Aaron may enter the Most Holy Place only on the Day of Cleansing. Before he enters, he must offer a bull for a sin offering. And he must offer a male sheep for a whole burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on these clothes. He will put on the holy linen inner robe. The linen underclothes will be next to his body. His belt will be the cloth belt. And he will wear the linen turban. These are holy clothes. So he must wash his whole body with water before he puts them on.

⁵ “Aaron must take from the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering. And he must take one male sheep for a burnt offering. ⁶ Then he will offer the bull for the sin offering. This sin offering is for himself. Then he will perform the acts to remove sins from him and his family so they will belong to the Lord.

⁷ “Next Aaron will take the two goats. He will bring them before the Lord at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ⁸ Aaron will throw lots for the two goats. One lot will be for the Lord. The other lot will be for the goat that removes sin. ⁹ Then Aaron will take the goat that was chosen for the Lord by throwing the lot. He must offer this goat as a sin offering. ¹⁰ The other goat was chosen by lot to remove the sin. It must be brought alive before the Lord. The priest will use it to perform the acts to remove Israel’s sin so they will belong to the Lord. Then this goat will be sent out into the desert.

¹¹ “Then Aaron will offer the bull as a sin offering for himself. This will remove the sins of him and his family so they will belong to the Lord. He will kill the bull for the sin offering for himself. ¹² Then he must take a pan full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord. Aaron must take two handfuls of sweet incense that has been ground into powder. He must bring it into the room behind the curtain. ¹³ He must put the incense on the fire before the Lord. Then the cloud of incense will cover the lid on the Ark of the Covenant. Then when Aaron comes in, he will not die. ¹⁴ Also, Aaron must take some of the blood from the bull. He must sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the lid. Then, with his finger he will sprinkle the blood seven times in front of the lid.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron must kill the goat of the sin offering for the people. He must bring this goat’s blood into the room behind the curtain. He must do with the goat’s blood as he did with the bull’s blood. He must sprinkle the goat’s blood on the lid and in front of it. ¹⁶ The people in Israel have been unclean. So Aaron will perform the acts to make the Most Holy Place ready for service to the Lord. Then it will be clean from the sins and crimes of the people of Israel. He must do this because the Meeting Tent stays in the middle of unclean people. ¹⁷ When Aaron makes the Most Holy Place ready for service to the Lord, no one is allowed in the Meeting Tent. No one must go in until Aaron comes out. So Aaron will perform the acts to remove sins from himself and his family so they will belong to the Lord. Then he will remove the sins of all the people of Israel so they will belong to the Lord. ¹⁸ Afterward he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord. And he will make the altar ready for service to the Lord. Aaron will take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood. He will put it on the corners of the altar on all sides. ¹⁹ Then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger. He will sprinkle it on the altar seven times. In this way Aaron will make the altar holy for the Lord. And it will be clean from all the sins of the people of Israel.

²⁰ “Aaron will make the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent and the altar clean. Then he will bring the goat alive to the Lord. ²¹ He will put both his hands on the head of the living goat. Then he will confess all the sins and crimes of Israel over the goat. In this way Aaron will put the people’s sins on the goat’s head. Then he will send the goat away into the desert. A man who has been appointed will lead the goat away. ²² So the goat will carry all the people’s sins on itself. It will go to a lonely place in the desert. The man who leads the goat will let it loose there.

²³ “Then Aaron will enter the Meeting Tent. He will take off the linen clothes. (He had put them on before he went into the Most Holy Place.) He must leave these clothes there. ²⁴ He will wash his whole body with water in a holy place. Then he will put on his regular clothes. He will come out and offer the whole burnt offering for himself. And he will offer the whole burnt offering for the people. He will remove sins from himself and the people so they will belong to the Lord. ²⁵ Then he will burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The person who led the goat into the desert must wash his clothes. Then he must wash his whole body with water. After that, he may come back into the camp.

²⁷ “The bull and goat for the sin offerings must be taken outside the camp. The blood from these animals was brought into the Most Holy Place. It was to make the Holy Place ready for service to the Lord. The priests will burn the animals’ skins, bodies and intestines in the fire. ²⁸ Then the one who burns them must wash his clothes. And he must wash his whole body with water. After that, he may come back into the camp.

Obey God’s Law Not Men’s

7 Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. ² They saw that some of Jesus’ followers ate food with hands that were not clean. (“Not clean” means that they did not wash their hands in the way the Pharisees said people must. ³ The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands in this special way. They do this to follow the teaching given to them by their great people who lived before them. ⁴ And when the Jews buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash it in a special way. They also follow other rules of their great people who lived before them. They follow rules about the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.^[a])

⁵ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law said to Jesus, “Your followers don’t follow the rules given to us by our great people who lived before us. Your followers eat their food with hands that are not clean. Why do they do this?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “You are all hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke about you. Isaiah wrote,

⁸ You have stopped following the commands of God. Now you only follow the teachings of men.”^[b]

⁹ Then Jesus said to them: “You think you are clever! You ignore the commands of God so that you can follow your own teachings! ¹⁰ Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’^[c] Then Moses also said, ‘Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.’^{[d] 11} But you teach that a person can say to his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ ¹² You are telling that person that he does not have to do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think that it is more important to follow your own rules, which you teach people. And you do many things like that.”

¹⁴ Jesus called the people to him again. He said, “Every person should listen to me and understand what I am saying. ¹⁵ There is nothing a person puts into his body that makes him unclean. A person is made unclean by the things that come out of him. ¹⁶ [Let those with ears use them and listen!]”^[e]

¹⁷ When Jesus left the people and went inside, his followers asked him about this story. ¹⁸ Jesus said, “Do you still have trouble understanding? Surely you know that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him unclean. ¹⁹ Food does not go into a person’s mind. Food goes into his stomach. Then that food goes out of his body.” (When Jesus said this, he meant that there is no food that is unclean for people to eat.)

²⁰ And Jesus said, “The things that come out of a man are the things that make him unclean. ²¹ All these evil things begin inside a person, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, ²² selfishness, doing bad things to other people, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, saying bad things about people, pride, and foolish living. ²³ All these evil things come from within a person. These things make a person unclean.”