Leviticus 15:19 - 30: 19 " 'When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. 20 " 'Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 22 Whoever touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 23 Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening. 24 " 'If a man lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean. 25 " 'When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. 26 Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. 27 Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 28 " 'When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. 29 On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 30 The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the LORD for the uncleanness of her discharge. --------- Genesis 31:35 35 Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period." So he searched but could not find the household gods. --------- Isaiah 30:22 22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!" ---------- Ezekiel 36:17 17 "Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman's monthly uncleanness in my sight.

Thanks for bringing this up. As if we don't have enough stuff to worry about. Should I trust myself? I don't trust anything that bleeds for 7 days & doesn't die. MWAHHH HA HA HA!

This was supposed to be a reply to a comment on my previous answer, but AB won't take it. Ritual uncleanness is not perceived as a disease; it will not cause any physical harm. It is merely a state in which a person cannot approach God. Part of the reason for that particular law is to further distinguish the worship of the God of Israel from the religious practices of surrounding cultures. Some Canaanite cults regarded menstrual blood as holy, and it was used in some of their rituals. The Mosaic Law aimed to separate the Hebrews from other peoples and make it impossible to practice the two religions side-by-side. Now, as to the menstruation being associated with sin, you're right on target. Menstruation is a physical sign of a woman's sexuality. For some reason, the human sex drive seems to have been somehow corrupted by the Fall. Pretty much every religion attempts to control sex in one way or another (though some glorify it and others condemn it). Since the menstrual blood (and a man's semen--Lev 15:16) is a sign of sex, it is also a sign of sin. edit: Since I now have more space than I would have in the comment, I'll add those verses about a man's semen, as well: Leviticus 15:16-18: "When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 17 Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. 18 When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening."

Wow... this is weird... I feel so dirty now. O_O Now I see why some men don't wanna have sex while the chik is on her rag.

her period is part of the curse, like the painful child bearing. it makes her unclean and anyone who toucher her is unclean, unclean means that they are not fit for any of the cerimonial rituals that they would usualy go through. just like a guy and his semen. it's the seed and egg that is unclean for both. (God really sees us all as unclean no matter what's going on with our bodies. we must be sanctified by Christ cuz we're all a bunch of filthy sinners)