Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible in a year.
Yesterday we heard about the differentiation between clean and unclean animals, what may be eaten, what may not be eaten,
what is considered clean, what is considered unclean, and would render a person touching it unclean.
And the purpose of all of this of course is what the Lord says at the end of chapter 11,
that the children of Israel are to consecrate themselves to him and to become holy for he is holy.
And today we're going to hear about how the male children are to be circumcised on the eighth day,
as well as some of the conditions that would render a person unclean and unable to participate in the worship of God at the tabernacle of meeting.
Alright, let's begin. Today's readings are from the vidicus chapters 12 to 15.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 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.
And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
She 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.
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.
When the days of her purification are filled, 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 turtle dove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
Then 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.
And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtle doves 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.
Chapter 13
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot,
and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore,
then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.
The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body,
and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body,
it is a leprous sore, then the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean.
But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin,
and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days,
and the priest shall examine him on the seventh day.
And indeed, if the sore appears to be as it was, and the sore has not spread on the skin,
then the priest shall isolate him another seven days.
Then the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day.
And indeed, if the sore has faded, and the sore has not spread on the skin,
then the priest shall pronounce him clean.
It is only a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
But if the scab should at all spread over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing,
he shall be seen by the priest again.
And if the priest sees that the scab has indeed spread on the skin,
and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is leprosy.
When the leprous sore is on a person, then he shall be brought to the priest,
and the priest shall examine him, and indeed, if the swelling on the skin is white,
and it has turned the hair white, and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling,
it is an old leprosy on the skin of his body.
The priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.
And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the sore,
from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, then the priest shall consider,
and indeed, if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the sore,
it has all turned white, he is clean.
But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean.
And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean,
for the raw flesh is unclean, it is leprosy.
Or if the raw flesh changes and turns white again, he shall come to the priest,
and the priest shall examine him, and indeed, if the sore has turned white,
then the priest shall pronounce him clean who has the sore, he is clean.
If the body develops a boil in the skin, and it is healed, and in the place of the boil
there comes a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest.
And if when the priest sees it, it indeed appears deeper than the skin,
and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean,
it is a leprous sore which has broken out of the boil.
But if the priest examines it, and indeed, there are no white hairs in it,
and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days.
And if it should at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean,
it is a leprous sore.
But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil,
and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
Or if the body receives a burn on its skin by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot,
reddish-white or white, then the priest shall examine it, and indeed,
if the hair of the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin,
it is leprosy broken out in the burn.
Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous sore.
But if the priest examines it, and indeed, there are no white hairs in the bright spot,
and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days.
And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day.
If it has at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean,
it is a leprous sore.
But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded,
it is a swelling from the burn, the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn.
If a man or woman has a sore on the head or the beard, then the priest shall examine the sore,
and indeed, if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is in it thin yellow hair,
then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a scaly leprosy of the head or beard.
But if the priest examines the scaly sore and indeed, it does not appear deeper than the skin,
and there is nto black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the scaly skin seven days.
And on the seventh day the priest shall examine a sore, and indeed, if the scaly skin has not spread,
and there is drug yellow below it, and the scaly skin does not appear deeper than the skin,
he shall shave himself, but the scaly screen he shall not shave.
And the priest shall isolate the one who has the scaly skin another seven days.
On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scale, and indeed if the scale has not spread over the skin and does not appear deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean.
He shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the scale should at all spread over the skin after his cleansing, then the priest shall examine him and indeed if the scale has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow hair.
He is unclean. But if the scale appears to be at a standstill and there is black hair grown up in it, the scale has healed. He is clean and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
If a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, specifically white bright spots, then the priest shall look and indeed if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white spot that grows on the skin. He is clean.
As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald but he is clean. He who has hair has fallen from his forehead, he is bald on the forehead but he is clean.
And if there is on the bald head or bald forehead a reddish white sore, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead.
Then the priest shall examine it and indeed if the swelling of the sore is reddish white on his bald head or on his bald forehead as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body, he is a leprous man, he is unclean.
The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean, his sore is on his head.
Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare, and he shall cover his mustache and cry unclean unclean. He shall be unclean, all the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean and he shall dwell alone, his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
Also if a garment has a leprous plague in it, whether it is a woolen garment or a linen garment, whether it is in the wrap or wool of linen or wool, whether in leather or in anything made of leather, and if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather, whether in the wrap or in the woof or in anything made of leather, it is a leprous plague and shall be shown to the priest.
The priest shall examine the plague and isolate that which has the plague seven days, and he shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the wrap or in the woof, in the leather or in anything made of leather, the plague is an active leprosy, it is unclean.
He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether wrap or woof, in wool or in linen or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy, the garment shall be burnt in the fire.
But if the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the garment, either in the wrap or in the woof or in anything made of leather, then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the plague, and he shall isolate it another seven days.
Then the priest shall examine the plague after it has been washed, and indeed if the plague has not changed its color, though the plague has not spread, it is unclean, and you shall burn it in the fire. It continues eating away, whether the damage is outside or inside.
If the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has faded after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the garment, whether out of the wrap or out of the woof or out of the leather, but if it appears again in the garment either in the wrap or in the woof or in anything made of leather, it is a spreading plague, you shall burn with fire that in which is the plague.
And if you wash the garment either wrap or woof or whatever is made of leather, if the plague has disappeared from it, then it shall be washed a second time and shall be clean. This is the law of the leper's plague in a garment of wool or linen either in the wrap or woof or in anything made of leather, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean.
Chapter 14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him, and indeed if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and dip them, and the living bird, in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.
And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean.
After that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay outside his tent seven days. But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head, and his beard, and his eyebrows. All his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.
And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one new lamb of the first year without blemish, three tenths of an effa of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
And the priest shall take one male lamb, and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place. For as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.
Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering.
The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand, he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, so the priest shall make a atonement for him before the Lord. Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness.
Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering, and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar, so the priest shall make atonement for him and he shall be clean. But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waived to make atonement for him, one tenth of an effa of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil, and two turtle doves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford.
One shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall waive them as a waive offering before the Lord.
Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand.
Then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.
The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord. And he shall offer one of the turtle doves or young pigeons such as he can afford, such as he is able to afford the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the green offering.
So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord. This is the law for one who had a leprous sore who cannot afford the usual cleansing. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put a leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession, and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest saying, It seems to me that there is some plague in the house.
Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house. And he shall examine the plague and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall, then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days.
Then the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look, and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house, then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city. And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside all around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city.
Then they shall take other stones and put them in a place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and plaster the house. Now the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house and after it is plastered, then the priest shall come and look, and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house, it is unclean.
And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place. Moreover, he who goes into the house at all, while it is shut up, shall be unclean until evening. And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. And he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and the running water, and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet. Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.
This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, for the leprosy of a garment and of a house, for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot, to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.
Chapter 15 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean, and this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge.
Whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
And he who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening.
He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. And whomever the one who has the discharge touches and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water. And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water, then he shall be clean.
On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest. Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.
If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water and be unclean until evening. And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening.
Also when a woman lies with a man and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water and be unclean until evening. If a woman has a discharge, and a discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean. Also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. Whoever touches her bed shall wash his cloth and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his cloth and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. And if any man lies with her at all so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days other than at the time of her customary impurity or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean.
Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity, and whatever she sits on shall be unclean as the uncleanness of her impurity. Whoever touches those things shall be unclean, he shall wash his cloth and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtle doves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness. Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.
This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless you and have a great day.