Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, and you shall say to them, ‘Any man when a fluid discharge occurs from his body, his fluid discharge is unclean. And this becomes his uncleanness in his fluid discharge: whether his body secretes his fluid discharge or his body blocks his fluid discharge, it is his uncleanness. Any bed upon which the person who discharges lies down becomes unclean, and any object upon which he sits becomes unclean. And anyone who touches his bed must wash his garments and shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until evening. And the person who sits on the object upon which the person who discharges has sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And the person who touches the body of the person who discharges must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And if the person who discharges spits on one who is clean, then that one shall wash is garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And any saddle upon which the person who discharges rides becomes unclean. And any person who touches anything that happened to be under him becomes unclean until the evening, and the person who carries them must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And anyone whom the person who discharges might touch without rinsing off his hands with water shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. But a clay vessel that the person who discharges touches must be broken, and any wood object must be rinsed with water.

“‘And when the person who discharges becomes clean from his body fluid discharge, he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing; then he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with fresh water, and he shall be clean. Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young doves, and he shall come before Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall give them to the priest. And the priest shall sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh from his body fluid discharge.

“‘And if an emission of semen goes out from anyone, then he shall wash all of his body with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And any garment and anything leather on which is an emission of semen shall be washed with water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. If there is a woman with whom a man lies down and there is an emission of semen, then they shall wash themselves with water, and they shall be unclean until the evening.

“‘And when a woman is menstruating, her body fluid discharge occurs in her body; for seven days she shall be in her menstruation, and any person who touches her shall become unclean until the evening. And anything upon which she lies down during her menstruation shall become unclean, and anything upon which she sits shall become unclean. And any person who touches her bed must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And any person who touches any object on which she sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And if it is on the bed or on the object on which she sits, at his touching it he becomes unclean until the evening. And if a man indeed lies with her and her menstruation occurs on him, then he shall be unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies down becomes unclean.

“‘And when a woman discharges a body fluid consisting of her blood for many days, but not at the time of her menstruation, or when she discharges in addition to her menstruation, all the days of her unclean body fluid discharge she shall become unclean as in the days of her menstruation. Any bed on which she lies during all the days of her body fluid discharge shall become for her as her bed of menstruation, and any object on which she sits becomes unclean as her menstruation’s uncleanness. And any person who touches them becomes unclean, and he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.

“‘And if she is clean from her body fluid discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and afterward she becomes clean. And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young doves, and she shall bring them to the priest at the tent of assembly’s entrance. And the priest shall sacrifice the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and so the priest shall make atonement for her before Yahweh from her unclean body fluid discharge.’

“And you shall keep the Israelites separate from their uncleanness so that they might not die because of their uncleanness by their making my tabernacle, which is in their midst, unclean.

“This is the regulation of the one with the body fluid discharge and the one from whom an emission of semen goes out so that he becomes unclean by it and concerning the menstruating woman in her bleeding and the person who discharges his body fluid, for the male and for the female and for a man who lies with an unclean woman.”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they had come near before Yahweh and they died. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he should not enter at any time into the sanctuary behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover that is on the ark, so that he might not die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

“Aaron must enter the sanctuary with this: a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. He must put on a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments must be on his body, and he must fasten himself with a linen sash, and he must wrap a linen turban around his head—they are holy garments, and he shall wash his body with water, then he shall put them on. And he must take from the Israelites’ community two he-goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.

“And Aaron shall present the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family. And he shall take the two goats, and he shall present them before Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yahweh and one for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell, and he shall sacrifice it as a sin offering. But he must present alive before Yahweh the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell to make atonement for himself, to send it away into the desert to Azazel.

“And Aaron shall present the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family; then he shall slaughter the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself. And he shall take a censer full of burning charcoal from upon the altar from before Yahweh and two handfuls of incense of powdered fragrant perfumes, and he shall bring it from behind the curtain, and he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh so that the cloud of incense might cover the atonement cover, which is on the covenant text, so that he might not die. And he shall take some of the bull’s blood, and he shall spatter it with his finger on the atonement cover’s surface on the eastern side, and before the atonement cover he shall spatter some of the blood with his finger seven times.

“And he shall slaughter the sin offering’s goat, which is for the people, and he shall bring its blood from behind the curtain, and he shall do with its blood as that which he did with the bull’s blood, and he shall spatter it on the atonement cover and before the atonement cover. Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary from the Israelites’ impurities and from their transgressions for all their sins; and so he must do for the tent of assembly, which dwells with them in the midst of their impurities. And no person shall be in the tent of assembly when he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family and for all of Israel’s assembly.

“Then he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh, and he shall make atonement for it; and he shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood, and he shall put it all around on the altar’s horns. And he shall spatter some of the blood on it seven times with his finger, and he shall cleanse it and consecrate it from the Israelites’ impurities.

“And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and the tent of assembly and the altar; then he shall present the living goat. And Aaron shall place his two hands on the living goat’s head, and he shall confess over it all the Israelites’ iniquities and all their transgressions for all their sins, and he shall put them on the goat’s head, and he shall send it away into the desert with a man standing ready. Thus the goat shall bear on it to a barren region all their guilt, and he shall send the goat away into the desert.

“And Aaron shall enter the tent of assembly, and he shall take off the linen garments that he put on at his coming to the sanctuary, and he shall leave them there. And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, and he shall put on his garments and go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for people. And he must turn into smoke the sin offering’s fat on the altar.

“And the person who sends out the goat for Azazel shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and afterward he shall come to the camp. And the sin offering’s bull and the sin offering’s goat, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be brought outside the camp, and they shall burn their hide and their flesh and their offal in the fire. And the person who burns them shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and afterward he must come to the camp.

“And this shall be a lasting statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you must deny yourselves and you must not do any work, whether the native or the alien who is dwelling in your midst, because on this day he shall make atonement for you to cleanse you; you must be clean from all your sins before Yahweh. It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves—it is a lasting statute. And the priest who is anointed and who is ordained to serve as a priest in place of his father shall make atonement; thus he shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and he shall make atonement for the sanctuary’s holy place, and he shall make atonement for the tent of assembly and the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all of the assembly’s people. And this shall be a lasting statute for you to make atonement for the Israelites one time in a year from all their sins.”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites, and you shall say to them, ‘This is the word that Yahweh has commanded, saying, “Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it outside the camp and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to present an offering to Yahweh before Yahweh’s tabernacle, then that man shall be accounted bloodguilty—he has poured out blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. This is so that the Israelites may bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field and bring them for Yahweh to the tent of assembly’s entrance to the priest, and they shall sacrifice fellowship offerings for Yahweh with them. And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall burn the fat as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. And they may no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is a lasting statute for them throughout their generations.”‘

“And you shall say to them, ‘if there is anyone from the house of Israel or from the alien who dwells in their midst who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to sacrifice it for Yahweh, then that man shall be cut off from his people. And if there is anyone from the house of Israel or from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who eats any blood, then I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. Indeed the flesh’s life is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, because it is the blood with the life that makes atonement. Therefore I said to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may the alien who is dwelling in your midst eat blood.’

“And if there is anyone from the Israelites or from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who hunts a wild game animal or a bird that may be eaten, then he shall pour out its blood, and he shall cover it with the soil. Indeed, the life of all flesh, its blood, is in its life, so I said to the Israelites, ‘You may not eat the blood of any flesh, because the life of all flesh is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.’

“And if there is any person who eats a dead body or a mangled carcass, whether among the native or among the alien, then he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean. But if he does not wash his garments and he does not wash his body, then he shall bear his guilt.”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. You must not carry out the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you lived, and you must not carry out the practices of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you; and you must not follow their statutes. You must carry out my regulations, and you must observe my statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. And you shall observe my statutes and my regulations by which the person doing them shall live; I am Yahweh.

“‘None of you shall approach anyone who is his close relative to expose nakedness; I am Yahweh. You must not expose your father’s nakedness or your mother’s nakedness—she is your mother; you must not expose her nakedness. You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s wife—it is your father’s nakedness. As for your sister’s nakedness, whether your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born abroad, you must not expose their nakedness. As for the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, you must not expose their nakedness, because they are your nakedness. As for the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, she is your sister, a relative of your father; you must not expose her nakedness. You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative. You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative. You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not have sex with his wife—she is your aunt. You must not expose your daughter-in-law’s nakedness; she is your son’s wife; you must not expose her nakedness. You must not expose the nakedness of your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. You must not expose the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, or her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter; you must not take her as wife to expose her nakedness; they are close relatives—that is wickedness. And you must not take as wife a woman with her sister, to be a rival-wife, to expose her nakedness before her during her life.

“‘And you must not have sex with a woman to expose her nakedness during her menstrual uncleanness. And you must not have sex with your fellow citizen’s wife, becoming unclean with her.

“‘And you shall not give any of your offspring in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh. And you shall not lie with a male as lying with a woman; that is a detestable thing. And you shall not have sexual relations with any animal, becoming unclean with it; and a woman shall not stand before an animal to copulate with it—that is a perversion.

“‘You must not make yourself unclean in any of these things, because the nations whom I am driving out from your presence were made unclean by all of these. So the land became unclean, and I have brought the punishment of its guilt upon it, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants. But you (neither the native nor the alien who is dwelling in your midst) shall keep my statutes and my regulations, and you shall not practice any of these detestable things (because the people of the land, who were before you, did all these detestable things, so the land became unclean), so that the land will not vomit you out when you make it unclean just as it vomited out the nation that was before you. Indeed, anyone who does any of these detestable things, even those persons who do so shall be cut off from the midst of their people. Thus you shall keep my obligation to not do any of the statutes regarding the detestable things that they did before you, so that you will not make yourselves unclean by them; I am Yahweh your God.'”

For the music director. A psalm of David.

In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge.

Let me not be put to shame ever.

Deliver me by your righteousness.

Incline your ear to me.

Quickly deliver me.

Become my rock of refuge,

a fortified keep to save me.

For you are my rock and my fortress.

So, for the sake of your name,

lead me and guide me.

Bring me out of the net that they have secretly set for me,

for you are my refuge.

Into your hand I commit my spirit.

You have redeemed me, O Yahweh, faithful God.

I hate those devoted to useless idols,

but I trust Yahweh.

I will exult and rejoice in your loyal love.

Because you have seen my misery,

you know the distresses of my life.

And you have not delivered me

into the hand of the enemy.

You have set my feet in a broad place.

Be gracious to me, O Yahweh,

because I have distress.

My eye wastes away because of vexation,

along with my soul and my body.

For my life is at an end with sorrow,

and my years with sighing.

My strength stumbles because of my iniquity,

and my bones waste away.

Because of all my adversaries I have become a disgrace,

especially to my neighbors,

and a dread to my acquaintances.

Those who see me in the street flee from me.

I have become forgotten like one dead, out of mind.

I am like a destroyed vessel.

For I hear the rumor of many,

“Terror on every side!”

When conspiring together against me,

they have plotted to take my life.

But as for me, I trust you, O Yahweh.

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hand.

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies

and from those who pursue me.

Shine your face upon your servant.

Save me by your loyal love.

O Yahweh, let me not be put to shame, for I call on you.

Let the wicked be put to shame.

Let them go silently to Sheol.

Let lying lips be dumb,

that speak against the righteous unrestrained

with arrogance and contempt.

How abundant is your goodness

that you have stored up for those who fear you,

that you perform for those who take refuge in you

before the children of humankind.

You will hide them in the protection of your presence

from the plots of man.

You will hide them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.

Blessed is Yahweh,

because he has worked marvelously his loyal love to me

in a besieged city.

As for me, I said in my alarm,

“I am cut off from before your eyes.”

However you heard the voice of my supplications

when I cried to you for help.

Love Yahweh, all you his faithful ones.

Yahweh preserves the faithful

but repays abundantly the one who acts arrogantly.

Be strong and let your heart show strength,

all you who wait for Yahweh.

Therefore, leaving behind the elementary message about Christ, let us move on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God, teaching about baptisms and laying on of hands, and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. For it is impossible concerning those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become sharers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age, and having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, because they have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt. For ground that drinks the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth vegetation usable to those people for whose sake it is also cultivated, shares a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to a curse, whose end is for burning.

But even if we are speaking in this way, dear friends, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and belonging to salvation. For God is not unjust, so as to forget your work and the love which you demonstrated for his name by having served the saints, and continuing to serve them. And we desire each one of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end, in order that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and patience.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself, saying,

“Surely I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply you.”

And so, by persevering, he obtained the promise. For people swear by what is greater than themselves, and the oath for confirmation is the end of all dispute for them. In the same way God, because he wanted to show even more to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his resolve, guaranteed it with an oath, in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us, which we have like an anchor of the soul, both firm and steadfast, and entering into the inside of the curtain, where Jesus, the forerunner for us, entered, because he became a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Until next time, keep meditating on the word of God.

Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.