The Ritual After Childbirth

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean.[#Lev. 15:19; (Job 14:4; Ps. 51:5); #Ex. 22:30; Lev. 8:33; 13:4; Luke 2:22; #Lev. 18:19]

³And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.[#Gen. 17:12; Luke 1:59; 2:21; John 7:22, 23; Gal. 5:3]

⁴She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.

⁵‘But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.

⁶‘When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.[#Luke 2:22; #(John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19); #Lev. 5:7]

⁷Then he shall offer it before the Lord , and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female.

⁸‘And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’ ”[#Lev. 5:7; Luke 2:22–24; #Lev. 4:26]