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; as she is in the days of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3Then on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4And she shall stay at home in her condition of [a]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. 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 [b]blood purification for sixty-six days.

6‘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 as a [c]sin offering. 7Then he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the [d]flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female. 8But if [e]she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young doves, the one as a burnt offering and the other as a [f]sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”