40 Bible Verses about Ritual Washing

Most Relevant Verses

Exodus 19:10-11

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes, and they must be prepared for the third day, because on the third day, Yahweh will go down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people.

Exodus 19:14

And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and he consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes.

Exodus 40:12-15

And you will bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of assembly, and you will wash them with the water. And you will clothe Aaron with the holy garments, and you will anoint him, and you will consecrate him, and he will serve as a priest for me. And you will bring his sons, and you will clothe them [with] tunics.read more.
And you will anoint them as you anointed their father, and they will serve as priests for me. And their anointing will be for them to be a lasting priesthood throughout their generations."

Numbers 8:5-7

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the Levites from the midst of the {Israelites} and purify them. So you will do to them, to purify them: sprinkle on them waters of purification, and {they will shave their whole body} and wash their garments.

Leviticus 17:15

"And [if there is] any person who eats a dead body or a mangled carcass, [whether] among the native or among the alien, then he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean.

Leviticus 13:6

And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day [for a] second [time], and {if} the infection has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall declare him clean--it [is] an epidermal eruption; and he shall wash his garments, and so he shall be clean.

Leviticus 15:16-18

" 'And if an emission of semen goes out from anyone, then he shall wash all of his body with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And any garment and anything leather on which is an emission of semen shall be washed with water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. If [there is] a woman with whom a man lies down [and there is] an emission of semen, then they shall wash [themselves] with water, and they shall be unclean until the evening.

Numbers 19:10

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his garments; he will be unclean until evening. It will be an eternal decree for the {Israelites} and for one who dwells as an alien in their midst.

Numbers 31:24

And you will wash your garments on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you will come into the camp."

Leviticus 6:27

Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and [when] {some of} its blood spatters on a garment, what was spattered on it you shall wash in a holy place.

Leviticus 11:24-28

And by these you shall become unclean--anyone who touches their dead body shall become unclean until the evening, and anyone who carries their dead body must wash his garments, and he shall be unclean until the evening. " '[With regard] to any animal that has a divided hoof but does not split the hoof, or does not have a cud [for] chewing--they [are] unclean for you; anyone who touches them shall become unclean.read more.
And anything that walks upon its paws among any of the animals that walks on [all] fours--they [are] unclean for you; anyone who touches their dead body shall become unclean until the evening, and the one who carries their dead body must wash his garments, and he shall be unclean until the evening--they [are] unclean for you.

Leviticus 13:58

And the garment or the woven material or the fabric or any leather object that he might wash and the infection is removed from them then shall be washed second [time], and it shall be clean."

Leviticus 14:43-47

"But if the infection should return and it breaks out in the house after they have removed the stones and after scraping off [the plaster] of the house and after it has been replastered, then the priest shall come, and he shall examine [the infection], and {if} the infection has spread in the house, it [is] a destructive {mildew} in the house--it [is] unclean. So he shall break down the house, its stones and its wood and all of the house's plaster, and he shall bring [it all] {outside the city} to an unclean place.read more.
And the person who enters into the house [during] all [the] days [that] he confined it shall become unclean until the evening. And the person who sleeps in the house must wash his garments, and the person who eats in the house shall wash his garments.

Numbers 19:21

" 'It will be an eternal decree for them. The one who spatters the waters of impurity will wash his garments, and the one who touches the waters of impurity will be unclean until the evening.

Leviticus 14:8-9

Then the one who presents himself for cleansing shall wash his garments, and he shall shave off all his hair, and he shall wash himself in the water; thus he shall be clean, and afterward he shall enter the camp, but he shall stay {outside his tent} [for] seven days. {And then} on the seventh day he must shave off all his hair--he must shave his head and his beard and {his eyebrows} and all [the rest] of his hair--and he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body in the water; thus he shall be clean.

Leviticus 15:4-13

Any bed upon which the person who discharges lies down becomes unclean, and any object upon which he sits becomes unclean. And anyone who touches his bed must wash his garments and shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until evening. And the person who sits on the object upon which the person who discharges has sat must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening.read more.
And the person who touches the body of the person who discharges must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And if the person who discharges spits on [one who is] clean, then that one shall wash is garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And any saddle upon which the person who discharges rides becomes unclean. And any person who touches anything that happened to be under him becomes unclean until the evening, and the person who carries them must wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. And anyone whom the person who discharges might touch {without} rinsing off his hands with water shall wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening. But a clay vessel that the person who discharges touches must be broken, and any {wood object} must be rinsed with water. " 'And when the person who discharges becomes clean from his body fluid discharge, he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing; then he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with {fresh} water, and he shall be clean.

Leviticus 16:26-28

"And the person who sends out the goat for Azazel shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and {afterward} he shall come to the camp. And the sin offering's bull and the sin offering's goat, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be brought {outside the camp}, and they shall burn their hide and their flesh and their offal in the fire. And the person who burns them shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and {afterward} he must come to the camp.

Numbers 19:7-8

The priest will wash his garments and his body in the water, and afterward he will come to the camp; the priest will be unclean until the evening. The one who burns it will wash his garments and his body in water; he will be unclean until the evening.

Deuteronomy 23:9-11

"If you go out to encamp against your enemies, then you shall guard against [doing] anything evil. "If [there] is among you a man that is not clean because of a seminal emission {during the night}, he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come within the camp. {And then} toward the {coming} of the evening, he shall bathe with water, and at the going down of the sun, he may come to the midst of the camp.

2 Kings 5:9-14

Then Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and he stopped [at] the doorway of the house of Elisha. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, you must wash seven times in the Jordan, then your flesh shall return to you, and you shall be clean." But Naaman became angry and he went and said, "Look, I said to myself, 'Surely he will come out, stand, call upon the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hands over the spot; then he would take away the skin disease.'read more.
Are not the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all of the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them that I may be clean?" Then he turned and left in anger. But his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, [if] the prophet had spoken a difficult thing to you to do, would you not have done [it]? [Why not] even when he says to you, 'Wash and you shall be clean'?" So he went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh returned as the flesh of a small boy, and he was clean.

Hebrews 10:19-22

Therefore, brothers, [since we] have confidence for the entrance into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, [by the] new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, his flesh, and [since we have] a great priest over the house of God,read more.
let us approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled [clean] from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Numbers 19:17-19

For the unclean [person] they will take from the powder of the {burnt purification offering}, and they will put running water into a container. A clean person will take hyssop and dip [it] into the water and sprinkle [it] on the tent and on all the objects and persons who were there, and on one who touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead, or the burial site. The clean [person] will spatter the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he will purify him, and he will wash his garments; he will bathe in the waters, and in the evening he will be clean.

Numbers 19:13

Anyone who touches a corpse, the person of a human being who died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahweh, and that person will be cut off from Israel because the waters of impurity were not sprinkled on him. He will still be unclean, and uncleanness [is] on him.

Ezekiel 36:24-25

" 'And I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all of the lands, and I will bring you to your land. And I will sprinkle on you pure water, and you will be clean from all of your uncleanness, and I will cleanse you from all of your idols.

Exodus 30:17-21

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "And you will make a basin of bronze and its bronze stand for washing, and you will put it between the tent of assembly and the altar, and you will put water there. And Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and their feet with it.read more.
When they come to the tent of assembly, they will wash with water so that they do not die, or when they approach the altar to serve by turning to smoke an offering made by fire to Yahweh. And they will wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die, and it will be a lasting rule for them--to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.

Exodus 40:30-32

And he placed the basin between the tent of assembly and the altar, and he put there water for washing. And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet from it. At their going into the tent of assembly and at their approaching the altar, they washed, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Deuteronomy 21:6-9

And all of the elders of that city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer [with] the broken neck in the wadi. And they shall declare, and they shall say, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see [what was done]. Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and [do] not {allow} the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven [with regard to] blood.'read more.
And [so] you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, because you must do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh.

John 13:5-10

Then he poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe [them] dry with the towel {which he had tied around himself}. Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will understand after these [things]."read more.
Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet {forever}!" Jesus replied to him, "Unless I wash you, you do not have a share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also [my] hands and [my] head!" Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed {only needs} to wash [his] feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all [of you]."

Numbers 19:20

But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the midst of the assembly because he defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh; the water of impurity was not sprinkled on him; he [is] unclean.

Leviticus 17:15-16

"And [if there is] any person who eats a dead body or a mangled carcass, [whether] among the native or among the alien, then he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash [himself] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean. But if he does not wash [his garments] and he does not wash his body, then he shall bear his guilt."

John 2:6

Now six stone water jars were set there, in accordance with the ceremonial cleansing of the Jews, each holding two or three measures.

John 3:25

So a dispute occurred on the part of John's disciples with a Jew concerning purification.

Matthew 15:1-11

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat {a meal}." So he answered [and] said to them, "Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition?read more.
For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'The one who speaks evil of father or mother {must certainly die}.' But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or his mother, "Whatever {benefit you would have received} from me [is] a gift [to God]," need not honor his father,' and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.'" And summoning the crowd, he said to them, "Hear and understand: It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth--this defiles a person."

Mark 7:1-23

And the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to him. And they saw that some of his disciples were eating their bread with unclean--that is, unwashed--hands. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands {ritually}, [thus] holding fast to the traditions of the elders.read more.
And [when they come] from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other [traditions] which they have received [and] hold fast to--[for example,] the washing of cups and pitchers and bronze kettles and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?" So he said to them, "Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me. And they worship me in vain, teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.' Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men." And he said to them, "You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep your tradition. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'The one who speaks evil of father or mother {must certainly die}.' But you say, 'If a man says to his father or to his mother, "Whatever {benefit you would have received} from me [is] corban" (that is, a gift [to God]), you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother, [thus] making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and you do many similar [things] such as this." And summoning the crowd again, he said to them, "Listen to me, all [of you], and understand: There is nothing outside of a person that is able to defile him [by] going into him. But the things that go out of a person are the things that defile a person." And when he entered into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, "So are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything [that is] outside that goes into a person [is] not able to defile him? For it does not enter into his heart but into his stomach, and goes out into the latrine"--[thus] declaring all foods clean. And he said, "What comes out of a person, that defiles a person. For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, [acts of] greed, malicious [deeds], deceit, licentiousness, {envy}, abusive speech, pride, foolishness. All these evil [things] come from within and defile a person."

Luke 11:37-41

And as he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him {to have a meal} with him, and he went in [and] reclined at table. And the Pharisee, [when he] saw [it], was astonished that he did not first wash before the meal. But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of greediness and wickedness.read more.
Fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give [as] charitable giving the things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

Hebrews 9:6-14

Now these things having been prepared in this way, the priests enter into the first tent {continually} [as they] accomplish their service, but only the high priest [enters] into the second [tent] once a year, not without blood, which he offers on behalf of himself and the [sins] of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit [was] making this clear, [that] the way [into] the holy place [was] not yet revealed, [while] the first tent was still in existence,read more.
which [was] a symbol for the present time, in which both the gifts and sacrifices which were offered were not able to perfect the worshiper with respect to the conscience, concerning [instead] only food and drink and different washings, regulations of outward things imposed until the time of setting [things] right. But Christ has arrived [as] a high priest of the good [things] to come. Through the greater and more perfect tent not made by hands, that is, not of this creation, and not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once for all into the [most] holy place, obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify [them] for the ritual purity of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve [the] living God?

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