Leviticus 12

Purification after Childbirth

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the Israelites, saying: If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the uncleanness of her menstrual period, she shall be unclean. 3On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4She shall remain thirty-three days in the blood of purification. She shall not touch any holy thing or enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. 5If she gives birth to a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as during her menstrual period, and she shall remain sixty-six days in the blood of purification.

The Offering after Purification

6When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering. 7The priest shall present them before the LORD and make atonement for her, and she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for the woman who gives birth to a male or a female child. 8If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take 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.”