Leviticus 12

Laws of Motherhood

1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying:

‘When a woman gives birth and delivers a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days; 1as she is in the days of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3Then on 2the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4And she shall stay at home in her condition of 3blood purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. 5But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall stay at home in her condition of 4blood purification for sixty-six days.

6‘5When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one-year-old lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove 6as a 7sin offering. 7Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the 8flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female. 8But if 9she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take 10two turtledoves or two young doves, 11the one as a burnt offering and the other as a 12sin offering; and the 13priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”