Leviticus 12

The Ritual After Childbirth

12Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a ^awoman has conceived, and borne a male child, then ^bshe shall be ¹unclean seven days; ^cas in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. ³And on the ^deighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any ²hallowed 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.

^6e‘When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a ^flamb ³of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a ^gsin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁷Then he shall offer it before the Lord, and make ⁴atonement 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.

^8h‘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. ⁱSo the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be ⁵clean.’ ”