³⁷ For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.^(A)

³ “Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord,^(A) that person must be cut off from my presence.^(B) I am the Lord.

⁴ “‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease^[a] or a bodily discharge,^(C) he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse^(D) or by anyone who has an emission of semen, ⁵ or if he touches any crawling thing^(E) that makes him unclean, or any person^(F) who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. ⁶ The one who touches any such thing will be unclean^(G) till evening.^(H) He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.^{(I) 7} When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food.^(J)

¹⁵ “After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move,^(A) only then are the Kohathites^(B) to come and do the carrying.^(C) But they must not touch the holy things^(D) or they will die.^(E) The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.

¹¹ “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests^(A) what the law says: ¹² If someone carries consecrated meat^(B) in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?^(C)’”

The priests answered, “No.”

¹³ Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”

“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.^(D)”