40 Bible Verses about Ritual Washing

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes and be ready for the third day; for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.

And Moses went down from the mount unto the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.

And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony and wash them with water. And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him, that he may be my priest. And thou shalt bring his sons and clothe them with coats.read more.
And thou shalt anoint them as thou didst anoint their father, and they shall be my priests; and it shall be that their anointing shall be unto them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of atonement for sin upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and be clean.

And any person that eats that which died of itself or that which was torn by beasts whether it is a natural of your own country or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean.

After this the priest shall look on him again the seventh day and see if the plague has darkened and that the plague is not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is but a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.

And the man, when his seed shall go forth from him, then shall wash all his flesh in water and be unclean until the evening. And every garment and every skin upon which the seed of a man has come shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. The woman also with whom the man shall have sexual contact with seed, they shall both bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.

And he that gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; and it shall be unto the sons of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourns among them for a perpetual statute.

Ye shall also wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterwards ye shall come into the camp.

Whatever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be sanctified; and when some of the blood thereof is sprinkled upon any garment, thou shalt wash whatever it was sprinkled on in the holy place.

And for these ye shall be unclean: whoever touches their carcase shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever bears any part of their carcase shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. The carcasses of every animal which divides the hoof and is not clovenfooted, nor chews the cud, are unclean unto you; everyone that touches them shall be unclean.read more.
And of all the animals that go on all four, any that walk upon their paws are unclean unto you; whoever touches their carcase shall be unclean until the evening. And he that bears their carcase shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean unto you.

But the garment, either warp or woof or whatever thing of skin which thou shalt wash and from which the plague is removed, shall be washed the second time, and then it shall be clean.

And if the plague comes again and breaks out in the house after he has taken away the stones and after he has scraped the house and after it is plastered, then the priest shall come in and look; and if the plague appears to have spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house; it is unclean. Then he shall break down the house, its stones, and its timbers, and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place.read more.
Moreover he that enters into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening. And he that sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and he that eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, also he that sprinkles the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that touches the water of separation shall be unclean until evening.

And I said unto him, lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are those who came out of great tribulation and have washed their long robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Blessed are those who do his commandments that their power and authority might be in the tree of life and they may enter in through the gates into the city.

And he that is to be purified shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and wash himself with water, and he shall be clean; and after that he shall come into the camp and shall dwell outside of his tent seven days. But it shall be that on the seventh day he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows; finally he shall shave off all his hair, and he shall wash his clothes; also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.

Every bed on which the one that has the issue lies shall be unclean; and everything upon which he sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And he that sits on any thing upon which the one that has the issue sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.read more.
Likewise he that touches the flesh of the one that has the issue shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. And if the one that has the issue spits upon him that is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And any saddle that he that has the issue rides upon shall be unclean. And whoever touches any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and he that bears any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever the one that has the issue touches and has not washed his hands with water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And the vessel of earth that the one that has the issue touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be washed with water. And when the one that has an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days from his purification and wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in living water, and he shall be clean.

And he that took the he goat to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh with water and afterward come into the camp. And he shall take outside the camp the bullock of the sin and the goat of the sin, whose blood was brought in to make the reconciliation in the sanctuary; and they shall burn in the fire their skins and their flesh and their dung. And he that burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. Likewise he that burns her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water and shall be unclean until the evening.

When the host goes forth against thine enemies, then keep thyself from every evil thing. When there is among you any man that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chances by night, then he shall go abroad out of the camp; he shall not come within the camp. And it shall be when evening comes, he shall wash himself with water, and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall be restored, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman went away angry and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD, his God, and strike his hand over the place and remove the leprosy.read more.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. Then his slaves came near and spoke unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, would thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean? Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Remove the sin in me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having that great priest over the house of God,read more.
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts purified from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water;

And for the unclean person they shall take of the dust of the heifer that was burnt as sin and put living water over it in a vessel; and a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it upon the tent and upon all the stuff and upon the persons that were there and upon the one that touched the bone or the one slain or the one dead or the grave. And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and when he has removed the sin from them the seventh day, he shall then wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean in the evening.

Whoever touches the dead body of anyone that is dead and does not remove the sin has defiled the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean, and his uncleanness shall be upon him.

And I will take you from among the Gentiles and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

And the LORD spoke further unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and its base also of brass, to wash with; and thou shalt place it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar, and thou shalt put water in it. And from it Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.read more.
When they go into the tabernacle of the testimony, they shall wash with water that they not die, or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn the offering unto the LORD that must be consumed by fire, they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. And he and his seed shall have it as a perpetual statute throughout their generations.

And he set the laver between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar and put water in it, to wash with. And Moses and Aaron and his sons would wash their hands and their feet in it. When they would enter into the tabernacle of the testimony and when they would come near unto the altar, they washed themselves, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And all the elders of that closest city next to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Reconcile thy people Israel, whom thou hast ransomed, O LORD, and impute not the innocent blood shed in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.read more.
So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Then he came to Simon Peter, and Peter said unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou dost not understand now, but thou shalt understand afterwards.read more.
Peter said unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, He that is washed needs only to wash his feet because he is completely clean, and ye are clean, but not all.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

But the man that shall be unclean and shall not cause the sin to be removed from himself, that person shall be cut off from among the congregation because he has defiled the tabernacle of the LORD; the water of separation has not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

And any person that eats that which died of itself or that which was torn by beasts whether it is a natural of your own country or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. But if he washes them not, nor bathes his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.

And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

Then there arose a question between the disciples of John and the Jews about purifying.

Then certain scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem came unto Jesus, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?read more.
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother, and, He that curses father or mother, let him die without recourse. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, Whatever I might have helped thee with is already my offering unto God, and now has no need to honour his father or his mother with succour. Thus ye have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth and honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men. And calling the multitude unto him, he said unto them, Hear and understand: not that which goes into the mouth defiles the man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles the man.

Then came together unto him the Pharisees and some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, who upon seeing some of his disciples eat bread with common, that is to say, with unwashed, hands, they condemned them. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands often, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.read more.
And when they come from the market, unless they wash, they eat not. And there are many other things which they took upon themselves to hold such as the washing of cups and pots, brasen vessels and of tables.) Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why do thy disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashed hands? He answered and said unto them, Well has Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they honor me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups, and many other such like things ye do. And he also said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother, and, Whosoever curses father or mother shall most definitely die. But ye say, It is enough if a man shall say to his father or mother, It is all Corban, (that is to say, my gift to God) whatever with which thou mightest be profited by me. And ye suffer him to do no more for his father or for his mother, invalidating the word of God with your tradition, which ye have given; and many such like things do ye. And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you and understand; there is nothing from outside the man that entering into him can defile him, but the things which come out of him, those are what defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he said unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not understand that anything from outside that enters into the man cannot defile him? Because it enters not into his heart, but into the belly, and the man goes out to the privy and purges all foods. For he had said that it is what comes out of the man that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, come forth the evil thoughts, the adulteries, the fornications, the murders, the thefts, the covetousness, the wickedness, the deceit, the lasciviousness, the evil eye, the slander, the pride, the unwiseness: all these evil things come out from within and defile the man.

And as he spoke, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him, and he went in and sat down to food. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.read more.
Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second the high priest went alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for his own ignorance, and for that of the people: The Holy Spirit signifying in this, that the way into the sanctuary was not yet made manifest, as long as the first tabernacle was yet standing:read more.
Which was a figure of that time present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience, but in foods and drinks and different washings and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of correction. But Christ being now come, high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the sanctuary designed for eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of the Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from the works of death to serve the living God?