Dealing with abnormal discharges
1The LORD told Moses and Aaron to give these instructions to the Israelite people: 2If a man has a health problem that produces an unusual discharge [1] from his penis, [2] he is ritually unclean. [3]3It doesn't matter if the discharge continues to flow or becomes blocked. The man is unclean either way. 4Any bed he lies on or sits on becomes unclean as well. 5If you touch that unclean bed, you become ritually unclean for the rest of the day, until evening. You'll need to wash your clothes and take a bath. 6If you sit on anything he sat on, you’ll be unclean for the rest of the day, until evening. You’ll need to wash your clothes and take a bath.
7If you touch a man who is suffering from a discharge like this, you’ll become ritually unclean until evening. You’ll need to wash your clothes and take a bath. 8If a man with a discharge spits on you, you’ll become unclean until evening. You’ll need to wash your clothes and take a bath.
9If a man with a discharge sits on a saddle or a saddle blanket, it becomes unclean. 10If you touch anything this man rested on, you’ll become ritually unclean until evening. You’ll need to wash your clothes and take a bath. 11If the man with the discharge touches you without washing his hands, you’ll become ritually unclean until evening. You’ll need to wash your clothes and take a bath. 12If the man with a discharge touches a clay pot, destroy the pot. If he touches a wooden bowl or utensil, wash it clean.
Getting ritually clean after the healing
13When a man with an abnormal discharge from his penis is healed, he needs to wait seven days. It’s part of the process for becoming ritually cleansed. He’ll need to wash his clothes and take a bath in spring water. After that, he’ll be clean and no longer ritually contagious.14Next, he needs to offer a sacrifice: either two doves or two small pigeons. He should take them to a priest at the entrance into the tent sanctuary. 15The priest should burn them as offerings to the LORD: one bird as a sin offering, [4] and the other as a burnt offering. [5] This is how the priest will atone for the man who had the abnormal discharge. It will put the man on good terms with the LORD.
Unclean because of semen
16If a man ejaculates semen, [6] he will remain ritually unclean until evening. He needs to bathe his entire body in water. 17Any clothing or leather that come into contact with the semen must be washed. Even then, they’ll remain unclean until evening. 18If a man and woman have sex and the man ejaculates semen, they’ll both have to take a bath. And they’ll remain unclean until the next evening.Unclean during menstrual period
19If a woman has a menstrual period, she’ll remain ritually unclean throughout that time, for at least seven days. Anyone who touches her then will become unclean as well.20Any bed this woman lies on during her menstrual period, and anything she sits on becomes unclean. 21If you touch that unclean bed, you become ritually unclean for the rest of the day, until evening. You'll need to wash your clothes and take a bath. 22If you sit on anything this woman sat on, you’ll be unclean for the rest of the day, until evening. You’ll need to wash your clothes and take a bath.
23Anything this woman lies on or sits on during her monthly period will become unclean until evening. 24If a man has sex with a woman during her period, the man becomes ritually unclean for seven days. And any bed he lies on and everywhere he sits during that week becomes unclean, too.
Unclean during abnormal discharges
25If a woman has a period that goes on too long or if she has any other abnormal discharge, she’ll remain ritually unclean until the discharge stops. She should behave as though she’s in her menstrual period. 26Anywhere she lies or sits becomes unclean, as though she’s in her period; they’re all unclean as long as she suffers from the discharge.27If you touch anything she rested on, you’ll become ritually unclean until evening. You’ll need to wash your clothes and take a bath. 28When the abnormal discharge stops, the woman needs to wait seven days. After that, she’s ritually clean.
29Next, she needs to offer a sacrifice: either two doves or two small pigeons. She should take them to a priest at the entrance to the tent worship center. 30The priest should burn them as offerings to the LORD: one bird as a sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering. This is how the priest will atone for the woman who had the abnormal discharge. This will put her on good terms with the LORD.
Don’t bring uncleanness into worship center
31Make sure the people know not to bring any ritual uncleanness into the tent worship center. This would defile the LORD’s sacred place and they would die because of their uncleanness.32These are the laws about bodily discharges—normal and abnormal. This is so everyone knows that a man is unclean after he ejaculates semen, 33and that a woman is unclean during her menstrual cycle. In addition, anyone who has abnormal discharges is unclean, and so is anyone who has sex with that person.
