Concerning Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ² Speak to the people of Israel and say to them:

When any man has a discharge from his member,^[a] his discharge makes him ceremonially unclean. ³ The uncleanness of his discharge is this: whether his member^[b] flows with his discharge, or his member^[c] is stopped from discharging, it is uncleanness for him. ⁴ Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. ⁵ Anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ⁶ All who sit on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ⁷ All who touch the body of the one with the discharge shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ⁸ If the one with the discharge spits on persons who are clean, then they shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ⁹ Any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. ¹⁰ All who touch anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and all who carry such a thing shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ¹¹ All those whom the one with the discharge touches without his having rinsed his hands in water shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ¹² Any earthen vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³ When the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count seven days for his cleansing; he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water, and he shall be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord for his discharge.

¹⁶ If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁷ Everything made of cloth or of skin on which the semen falls shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁹ When a woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁰ Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean. ²¹ Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ²² Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening; ²³ whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁴ If any man lies with her, and her impurity falls on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵ If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. ²⁶ Every bed on which she lies during all the days of her discharge shall be treated as the bed of her impurity; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her impurity. ²⁷ Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ²⁸ If she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹ On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ³⁰ The priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

³¹ Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.

³² This is the ritual for those who have a discharge: for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby, ³³ for her who is in the infirmity of her period, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died. ² The Lord said to Moses:

Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the mercy seat^[d] that is upon the ark, or he will die; for I appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.^{[e] 3} Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and shall have the linen undergarments next to his body, fasten the linen sash, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy vestments. He shall bathe his body in water, and then put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; ⁸ and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.^{[f] 9} Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; ¹⁰ but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel^[g] shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.^[h]

¹¹ Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall slaughter the bull as a sin offering for himself. ¹² He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of crushed sweet incense, and he shall bring it inside the curtain ¹³ and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat^[i] that is upon the covenant,^[j] or he will die. ¹⁴ He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat,^[k] and before the mercy seat^[l] he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ He shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat^[m] and before the mercy seat.^{[n] 16} Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. ¹⁷ No one shall be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement on its behalf, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

²⁰ When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹ Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task.^{[o] 22} The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.

²³ Then Aaron shall enter the tent of meeting, and shall take off the linen vestments that he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴ He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his vestments; then he shall come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, making atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ The fat of the sin offering he shall turn into smoke on the altar. ²⁶ The one who sets the goat free for Azazel^[p] shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward may come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be consumed in fire. ²⁸ The one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward may come into the camp.

²⁹ This shall be a statute to you forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall deny yourselves,^[q] and shall do no work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you. ³⁰ For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. ³¹ It is a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall deny yourselves;^[r] it is a statute forever. ³² The priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the linen vestments, the holy vestments. ³³ He shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel once in the year for all their sins. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him.

Psalm 63

Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

The Believers Pray for Boldness

²³ After they were released, they went to their friends^[a] and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, ²⁵ it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:^[b]

²⁷ For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant^[d] Jesus, whom you anointed, ²⁸ to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants^[e] to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰ while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant^[f] Jesus.” ³¹ When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

The Believers Share Their Possessions

³² Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. ³³ With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. ³⁵ They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. ³⁶ There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”). ³⁷ He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.