40 Bible Verses about Ritual Washing

Jehovah continued: Go to the people and tell them to spend today and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship. They must wash their clothes. They should be ready in three days. I will descend to Mount Sinai, where all of them can see me.

Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.

Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tabernacle, and have them take a ritual bath. Dress Aaron in the priestly garments and anoint him. Consecrate him so that he can serve me as priest. Bring his sons and put the shirts on them.read more.
Anoint them just as you anointed their father that they can serve me as priests. This anointing will make them priests for generations to come.

Jehovah said to Moses: Separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites. Make them clean. This is what you must do to make them clean: Sprinkle them with water to take away their sins. Make them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. Then they will be clean.

Native Israelites or foreigners who eat the body of an animal that dies naturally or is killed by another animal must wash their clothes and their bodies. They will be unclean until evening. Then they will be clean.

The priest will examine you again on the seventh day. If the sore has faded and has not spread, he will pronounce you ritually clean. It is only a sore. You will wash your clothes and be ritually clean.

If a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body. He will be unclean until evening. Any clothes or any leather with semen on it must be washed. It will be unclean until evening. When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman and has an emission of semen, they must wash themselves. They will be unclean until evening.

The one who collected the ashes must wash his clothes. He remains unclean until evening. This regulation is valid for all time to come, both for the Israelites and for the foreigners living among them.

You must wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean. After that you may enter the camp.

Everything that touches its meat will be holy. If blood gets on someone's clothes, he must wash them in a holy place.

Regarding the creatures mentioned above, this is how you would become unclean: When you touch their dead bodies you will be unclean until evening. When you carry any part of their dead bodies you must wash your clothes. You will be unclean until evening. All animals whose hoofs are not completely divided or that do not chew their cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them is unclean.read more.
All four-legged animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. Those who carry the dead body of any of these animals must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening. These animals are unclean for you.

If he washes the object and the spot disappears, he should wash it again. It will be ritually clean.

If the mildew breaks out again in the house after the stones have been removed and the house has been scraped and plastered, the priest will go and look. If it has spread, the house is unclean. It must be torn down, and its stones, its wood, and all its plaster must be carried out of the city to an unclean place.read more.
Whoever goes into the house during the time that he has quarantined it, becomes unclean until evening. Whoever lies down in the house must wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house must wash his clothes.

This will be a long lasting law for them. He who sprinkles the water to take away uncleanness must wash his clothes. He who touches this water will be unclean until evening.

I said to him: Sir, you know. He said to me: These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Blessed are those who obey his commandments. They have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city.

You must wash your clothes, shave off all your hair, and take a bath. You will then be ritually clean. You may enter the camp. You must live outside your tent for seven days. On the seventh day you should again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body. You should wash your clothes and take a bath. Then you will be ritually clean.

The man who has a discharge makes everything he lies on or sits on unclean. Those who touch his bed must wash their clothes and their bodies. They will be unclean until evening. Those who sit on anything he sat on must wash their clothes and their bodies. They will be unclean until evening.read more.
Those who touch a man who has a discharge must wash their clothes and their bodies. They will be unclean until evening. Should a man who has a discharge spit on anyone who is clean, the person he spits on must wash his clothes and his body. He will be unclean until evening. When a man who has a discharge sits on a saddle, it becomes unclean. Those who carry such things must wash their clothes and their bodies. They will be unclean until evening. If a man who has a discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands, the person he touched must wash his clothes and his body. He will be unclean until evening. When a man who has a discharge touches pottery, it must be broken. When he touches a wooden bucket it must be rinsed. When a man's discharge stops, he must wait seven days to be cleansed. He must wash his clothes and his body in fresh water. Then he will be clean.

The man who released the goat to Azazel must wash his clothes and his body. Then he may return to the camp. The bull and the goat used for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to take away sin, will be carried outside the camp and burned. Skin, meat, and intestines must all be burned. The one who burns them must wash his clothes and take a bath before he returns to camp.

The priest must then wash his clothes and his body. After that, he may go into the camp. But he will be unclean until evening. The person who burned the calf must also wash his clothes and his body. He will be unclean until evening.

Guard yourself from every evil thing when your army goes to war against your enemies. If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission he must go outside the camp. He may not reenter the camp. When evening approaches he should bathe himself with water. He may reenter the camp at sundown.

Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the entrance to Elisha's house. Elisha sent a servant to tell him to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River. He would then be completely cured of his disease. Naaman left in a rage, saying: I thought he would at least come out to me, pray to Jehovah his God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and cure me!read more.
Are not the Abanah and Pharpar rivers in Damascus better than any river in Israel? I could have washed in them and been cured! His servants went up to him and said: If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can you not just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured? So Naaman went to the Jordan River and dipped himself in it seven times, as Elisha had instructed. He was completely cured. His flesh became firm and healthy like that of a child.

Purify me from sin with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

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

Do this for people who become unclean from touching a dead body. Put some of the ashes from the red cow that was burned as an offering for sin into a container. Then pour fresh water on them. A person who is clean will take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and all the people who were in the tent with the dead body. He must also sprinkle any person who has touched a human bone or a grave and any person who has touched someone who has been killed or who has died naturally. A person who is clean will sprinkle these types of unclean people on the third day and the seventh day. On the seventh day the clean person will finish taking away their sins. Then they must wash their clothes and bodies. In the evening they will be clean.

Those who touch a corpse and do not purify themselves remain unclean. This is because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile Jehovah's tent, and they will no longer be considered God's people.

I will take you from the nations and gather you from every country. I will bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean instead of unclean. Then I will cleanse you from all your idols.

Jehovah said to Moses: Make a copper basin with a bronze stand for washing. Put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and fill it with water. Aaron and his sons will use it for washing their hands and feet.read more.
Before they go into the tent of meeting, they must wash so that they will not die. Before they come near the altar to serve as priests and burn an offering by fire to Jehovah. They must wash their hands and feet, so that they will not die. This is a long lasting rule that they and their descendants are to observe.

He put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. Moses, Aaron, and his sons used this water to wash their hands and feet. They washed whenever they went into the tent of meeting or whenever they approached the altar. Moses obeyed Jehovah's instructions.

All the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. They will answer: 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did we see it. Forgive your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Jehovah. Do not hold us responsible for the murder of an innocent person.' Forgive them of bloodguilt.read more.
Remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst. Do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah's.

Then he poured water into the basin and washed the disciples' feet. He wiped them with the towel he was wearing. When he approached, Simon Peter said: Lord do you wash my feet? You do not know what I do now, Jesus said: but you will understand later.read more.
Peter said: You will never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I do not wash you; you have no part with me. Simon Peter replied: Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus responded: He that is bathed must wash his feet. He is clean everywhere and you are clean, but not all.

Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded (uncertain) (doubter) (skeptic).

If the person who becomes unclean does not have his sin taken away, that person must be excluded from the assembly. He has made the holy place of Jehovah unclean. The water to take away uncleanness was not sprinkled on him. He is unclean.

Native Israelites or foreigners who eat the body of an animal that dies naturally or is killed by another animal must wash their clothes and their bodies. They will be unclean until evening. Then they will be clean. If they do not wash their clothes and their bodies, they will be guilty of sin.

Six stone water jars were placed there to honor purification rules of the Jews. Each contained more than twenty gallons.

There was a controversy between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.

Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus. They questioned him: Why do your disciples go against the teaching of the fathers? They eat food with unwashed hands. His answer to them was in the form of a question: Why do you go against the word of God in favor of your tradition?read more.
God said, 'Honor your father and mother.' 'He who says evil of father or mother will be put to death.' You teach that a man should tell his father or mother that what he has that could help them, is given to God. You say there is no need for him to give honor to his father. You have invalidated the word of God because of your tradition! You hypocrites (liars)! Isaiah's prophecy was right about you. These people honor me with their lips, but their heart (innermost thoughts) is far from me. But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules (commands) of men.' He got the people together and said to them: Listen, and let my words be clear to you. That which comes out of the mouth makes a man unclean, not that which goes into the mouth.

The Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem to gather around Jesus. They saw that some of his disciples ate their bread with unwashed defiled hands. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat until they wash their hands. They practice the tradition of the elders.)read more.
When they come from the marketplace they wash themselves before they eat. They follow many other rules. They wash their cups, and brass pots, and other vessels. The Pharisees and the scribes asked: Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders. Instead they eat their bread with defiled hands? He told them: Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites. It is written: 'This people honor me with their lips but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain teaching as doctrines the commands of men.' Speaking to the Pharisees and scribes He said: You abandon the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men. You totally reject the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition. Moses said: 'Honor your father and your mother. He also said: 'He that speaks evil of father or mother must die.' But you say: 'If a man says to his father or his mother that which would benefit you is a gift to God, he no longer has to do anything for his father or mother.' You make the word of God invalid by your tradition. He called the crowd again and said: Listen and understand! Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. That which comes from inside of a man can make him unclean. If any man has ears to hear, let him hear. When he entered the house away from the crowd his disciples asked him to explain. He replied: Do you not understand? Do you not know that which goes into the man from the outside cannot defile him? It is because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and is eliminated? All foods are clean. That which comes out of the man defiles the man. It is from the heart that evil thoughts come such as: fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, coveting, wickedness, deceit, loose conduct, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man.

As he spoke a Pharisee invited him to dine with him. He accepted the invitation and went to eat. The Pharisee wondered about Jesus not bathing before dinner. The Lord said: You Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter. Yet your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.read more.
You foolish ones. Did he that made the outside also make the inside? Give that which is within as charity. Then all things are clean for you.

When these things are prepared, the priests enter the outer room often to carry on their services. Only the high priest enters the inner room. Once a year he entered with blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people. The Holy Spirit revealed that the way into the Most Holy Place was not open while the tent was still in use.read more.
This is a symbol that points to the present time. It means that the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the worshiper's heart perfect, since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time comes to change them for something better. Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are now here. He also went into a much better tent that is not made by humans and does not belong to this creation. He went once and forever into the Most Holy Place having eternal salvation. It is not with the blood of goats and young bulls, but with his blood. The blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes from the burning of a young cow, sprinkled on the unclean made them outwardly clean. The blood of Christ did even more. Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself without blemish to God and cleansed your conscience from dead works. Now we can serve (worship) the living God.