Leviticus 12:2-8
New Catholic Bible
2 When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male child, she shall be considered to be unclean for seven days, just as when she menstruates. 3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin will be circumcised. 4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch any holy thing nor shall she enter into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete. 5 But if she gives birth to a girl, she shall be unclean for two weeks as during her menstruation. She shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.[a]
6 “When the days of her purification for a son or a daughter are complete, she shall bring a year-old lamb as a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering to the priest at the entrance to the meeting tent. 7 He shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. She shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for a woman who has borne a male or female child. 8 If she cannot afford to offer a lamb, she shall offer two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be clean.”[b]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 12:5 This prescription shows the inferiority of women in the mind of the ancient East.
- Leviticus 12:8 Allowance is made for those too poor to provide the prescribed offering following childbirth; doves or pigeons will suffice (see Lev 1:14).
