40 Bible Verses about Ritual Washing

And the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and make them holy today and tomorrow, and let their clothing be washed. And by the third day let them be ready: for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai, before the eyes of all the people.

Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and made the people holy; and their clothing was washed.

Then let Aaron and his sons come to the door of the Tent of meeting; and after washing them with water, You are to put on Aaron the holy robes; and you are to put oil on him, and make him holy, so that he may be my priest. And take his sons with him and put coats on them;read more.
And put oil on them as you did on their father, so that they may be my priests: the putting on of oil will make them priests for ever, from generation to generation.

And the Lord said to Moses, Take the Levites out from among the children of Israel and make them clean. And this is how you are to make them clean: let the holy water which takes away sin be put on them, and let the hair all over their bodies be cut off with a sharp blade, and let their clothing be washed and their bodies made clean.

And anyone who takes as food anything which has come to a natural end, or anything which has been put to death by beasts, if he is one of you by birth, or of another nation, will have to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening, and then he will be clean.

And the priest is to see him again on the seventh day; and if the mark is less bright and is not increased on his skin, then let the priest say that he is clean: it is only a skin-mark, and after his clothing has been washed he will be clean.

And if a man's seed goes out from him, then all his body will have to be bathed in water and he will be unclean till evening. And any clothing or skin on which the seed comes is to be washed with water and be unclean till evening. And if a man has sex relations with a woman and his seed goes out from him, the two of them will have to be bathed in water and will be unclean till evening.

And he who takes up the dust of the burned cow is to have his clothing washed with water and be unclean till evening: this is to be a law for ever, for the children of Israel as well as for the man from another country who is living among them.

And on the seventh day, after washing your clothing, you will be clean, and then you may come into the tent-circle.

Anyone touching the flesh of it will be holy: and if any of the blood is dropped on any clothing, the thing on which the blood has been dropped is to be washed in a holy place.

By these you will be made unclean; anyone touching their dead bodies will be unclean till evening: Whoever takes away the dead body of one of them is to have his clothing washed, and will be unclean till evening. Every beast, in the horn of whose foot there is not a complete division, and whose food does not come back, is unclean to you: anyone touching one of these will be unclean.read more.
Any four-footed beast which goes on the ball of its foot, is unclean to you: anyone touching the dead body of one of these will be unclean till evening. Anyone who takes away the dead body of one of these is to have his clothing washed and be unclean till evening.

And the material of the clothing, or anything of skin, which has been washed, if the mark has gone out of it, let it be washed a second time and it will be clean.

And if the disease comes out again in the house after he has taken out the stones and after the walls have been rubbed and the new paste put on, Then the priest will come and see it; and if the disease in the house is increased in size, it is the leper's disease working out in the house: it is unclean. And the house will have to be pulled down, the stones of it and the wood and the paste; and everything is to be taken out to an unclean place outside the town.read more.
And, in addition, anyone who goes into the house at any time, while it is shut up, will be unclean till evening. And anyone who has been sleeping in the house will have to have his clothing washed; and anyone who takes food in that house will have to have his clothing washed.

This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.

And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

A blessing on those whose robes are washed, so that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may go in by the doors into the town.

And he who is to be made clean will have his clothing washed and his hair cut and have a bath, and he will be clean. And after that he will come back to the tent-circle; but he is to keep outside his tent for seven days. And on the seventh day he is to have all the hair cut off his head and his chin and over his eyes--all his hair is to be cut off--and he will have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and he will be clean.

Every bed on which he has been resting will be unclean, and everything on which he has been seated will be unclean. And anyone touching his bed is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening. And he who has been seated on anything on which the unclean man has been seated is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening.read more.
And anyone touching the flesh of the unclean man is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening. And if liquid from the mouth of the unclean man comes on to him who is clean, then he is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening. And any leather seat on a horse on which the unclean man has been seated will be unclean. And anyone touching anything which was under him will be unclean till the evening; anyone taking up any of these things is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening. And anyone on whom the unclean man puts his hands, without washing them in water, is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening. And any vessel of earth which has been touched by the unclean man will have to be broken and any vessel of wood washed. And when a man who has a flow from his body is made clean from it, he is to take seven days to make himself clean, washing his clothing and bathing his body in flowing water, and then he will be clean.

And the man who takes away the goat for Azazel is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and then he may come back to the tent-circle. And the ox of the sin-offering and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood was taken in to make the holy place free from sin, are to be taken away outside the tent-circle and their skins and their flesh and their waste are to be burned with fire. And the man by whom they are burned is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water, and then he may come back to the tent-circle.

And the priest, after washing his clothing and bathing his body in water, may come back to the tent-circle, and will be unclean till evening. And he who does the burning is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening.

When you go out to war and put your tents in position, keep from every evil thing. If any man among you becomes unclean through anything which has taken place in the night, he is to go out from the tent-circle and keep outside it: But when evening comes near, let him take a bath: and after sundown he may come back to the tents.

So Naaman, with all his horses and his carriages, came to the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a servant to him, saying, Go to Jordan, and after washing seven times in its waters your flesh will be well again and you will be clean. But Naaman was angry and went away and said, I had the idea that he would come out to see such an important person as I am, and make prayer to the Lord his God, and with a wave of his hand over the place make the leper well.read more.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not be washed in them and become clean? So turning, he went away in wrath. Then his servants came to him and said, If the prophet had given you orders to do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much more then, when he says to you, Be washed and become clean? Then he went down seven times into the waters of Jordan, as the man of God had said; and his flesh became like the flesh of a little child again, and he was clean.

Make me free from sin with hyssop: let me be washed whiter than snow.

So then, my brothers, being able to go into the holy place without fear, because of the blood of Jesus, By the new and living way which he made open for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a great priest over the house of God,read more.
Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water:

And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel: And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched. Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening.

Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged.

For I will take you out from among the nations, and get you together from all the countries, and take you into your land. And I will put clean water on you so that you may be clean: from all your unclean ways and from all your images I will make you clean.

And the Lord said to Moses, You are to make a brass washing-vessel, with a brass base; and put it between the Tent of meeting and the altar, with water in it; That it may be used by Aaron and his sons for washing their hands and feet;read more.
Whenever they go into the Tent of meeting they are to be washed with water, to keep them from death; and whenever they come near to do the work of the altar, or to make an offering by fire to the Lord, Their hands and feet are to be washed. so that they may be safe from death: this is an order to them for ever; to him and his seed from generation to generation.

And between the altar and the Tent of meeting he put the vessel with water in it for washing. In it the hands and feet of Moses and Aaron and his sons were washed, Whenever they went into the Tent of meeting, and when they came near the altar, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley, Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it. Have mercy, O Lord, on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death.read more.
So you will take away the crime of a death without cause from among you, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Then he put water into a basin and was washing the feet of the disciples and drying them with the cloth which was round him. So he came to Simon Peter. Peter said, Lord, are my feet to be washed by you? And Jesus, answering, said to him, What I do is not clear to you now, but it will be clear to you in time to come.read more.
Peter said, I will never let my feet be washed by you, never. Jesus said in answer, If I do not make you clean you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, He who is bathed has need only to have his feet washed and then he is clean all over: and you, my disciples, are clean, but not all of you.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Make your hands clean, you evil-doers; put away deceit from your hearts, you false in mind.

But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean.

And anyone who takes as food anything which has come to a natural end, or anything which has been put to death by beasts, if he is one of you by birth, or of another nation, will have to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening, and then he will be clean. But if his clothing is not washed and his body bathed, his sin will be on him.

Now six pots of stone, every one taking two or three firkins of water, were placed there for the purpose of washing, as is the way of the Jews.

Then a question came up between John's disciples and a Jew about washing.

Then there came to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, Why do your disciples go against the teaching of the fathers? for they take food with unwashed hands. And in answer he said to them, Why do you, yourselves, go against the word of God on account of the teaching which has been handed down to you?read more.
For God said, Give honour to your father and mother: and, He who says evil of father or mother will be put to death. But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is given to God; There is no need for him to give honour to his father. And you have made the word of God without effect because of your teaching. You false ones, well did Isaiah say of you, These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men. And he got the people together and said to them, Give ear, and let my words be clear to you: Not that which goes into the mouth makes a man unclean, but that which comes out of the mouth.

And there came together to him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, And had seen that some of his disciples took their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. Now the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not take food without washing their hands with care, keeping the old rule which has been handed down to them:read more.
And when they come from the market-place, they take no food till their hands are washed; and a number of other orders there are, which have been handed down to them to keep--washings of cups and pots and brass vessels. And the Pharisees and the scribes put the question to him, Why do your disciples not keep the rules of the fathers, but take their bread with unwashed hands? And he said, Well did Isaiah say of you, you false ones: These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men. For, turning away from the law of God, you keep the rules of men. And he said to them, Truly you put on one side the law of God, so that you may keep the rules which have been handed down to you. For Moses said, Give honour to your father and mother, and, He who says evil of father or mother, let him have the punishment of death: But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God, You no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of no effect by your rule, which you have given: and a number of other such things you do. And turning to the people again, he said to them, Give ear to me all of you, and let my words be clear to you: There is nothing outside the man which, going into him, is able to make him unclean: but the things which come out of the man are those which make the man unclean. This verse ommitted from translation And when he had gone into the house away from all the people, his disciples put questions to him about the saying. And he said to them, Have even you so little wisdom? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside is not able to make him unclean, Because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? He said this, making all food clean. And he said, That which comes out of the man, that makes the man unclean. Because from inside, from the heart of men, come evil thoughts and unclean pleasures, The taking of goods and of life, broken faith between husband and wife, the desire of wealth, wrongdoing, deceit, sins of the flesh, an evil eye, angry words, pride, foolish acts: All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.

Now, while he was talking, a Pharisee made a request that he would come to a meal with him; and he went in and took his seat at the meal. And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised because he came to the meal without first washing himself. And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil.read more.
O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside? But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you.

Now while these things were in existence, the priests went into the first Tent at all times, for prayer and the making of offerings. But only the high priest went into the second, once a year, not without making an offering of blood for himself and for the errors of the people: The Holy Spirit witnessing by this that the way into the holy place had not at that time been made open, while the first Tent was still in being;read more.
And this is an image of the present time; when the offerings which are given are not able to make the heart of the worshipper completely clean, Because they are only rules of the flesh, of meats and drinks and washings, which have their place till the time comes when things will be put right. But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things of the future, through this greater and better Tent, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this world, And has gone once and for ever into the holy place, having got eternal salvation, not through the blood of goats and young oxen, but through his blood. For if the blood of goats and oxen, and the dust from the burning of a young cow, being put on the unclean, make the flesh clean: How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God?