Sinai & The Law

Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean.

All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,

and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,

the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.

These animals are unclean for you among all the crawling creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.

When one of them dies and falls on something, that article becomes unclean; any article of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work must be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.

If any of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean; you must break the pot.

Any food coming into contact with water from that pot will be unclean, and any drink in such a container will be unclean.

Anything upon which one of their carcasses falls will be unclean. If it is an oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you.

Nevertheless, a spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but one who touches a carcass in it will be unclean.

If a carcass falls on any seed for sowing, the seed is clean;

but if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

If an animal that you may eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean until evening.

Whoever eats from the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.

Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten.

Do not eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it crawls on its belly or walks on four or more feet; for such creatures are detestable.

Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them.

For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.

For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

This is the law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that crawl along the ground.

You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.

And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.