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Laws of Motherhood

¹ Then 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; ^(C1)as she is in the days of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.³ 'Then on ^(C1)the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.⁴ 'And she shall stay at home in her condition of ^(F1)blood purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed.⁵ 'But 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 ^(F1)blood purification for sixty-six days.

⁶ '^(C1)When 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 ^(C2)as a ^(F1)sin offering.⁷ 'Then he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the ^(F1)flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female.⁸ 'But if ^(F1)she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take ^(C1)two turtledoves or two young doves, ^(C2)the one as a burnt offering and the other as a ^(F2)sin offering; and the ^(C3)priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"