Purification After Childbirth

1 ThenYahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the Israelites,saying, ‘When a woman becomes pregnant and she gives birth to a male,thenshe shall be unclean seven days—as in the time of her menstrual bleeding, she shall become unclean.

3 And on the eighth day his foreskin’s flesh shall be circumcised.

4 And for thirty-three days she shall stay in the blood of her cleansing; she must not touch any holy object, and she may not come to the sanctuary until the fulfilling of the days of her cleansing.

5 Butif she gives birth to a female,thenshe shall be unclean for two weeks as in her menstruation, and for sixty-six days she shall stay throughthe blood of her cleansing.

6 And at the fulfilling of the days of her cleansing, whether for a son or for a daughter, she must bring to the priest at the tent of assembly’s entrance a yearlingmale lamb as a burnt offering and young doveor a turtledove as a sin offering.

7 And the priest shall present it beforeYahweh, and he shall make atonement for her, so thatshe shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the regulation of childbearingfor the maleor for the female.

8 And if she cannot afforda sheep,thenshe shall take two turtledoves or two young doves—one as a burnt offering and one as a sin offering—and the priest shall make atonement for her, so thatshe shall be clean.’ ”