1
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל-אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר.
Y Jehová habló a Moisés y a Aarón, diciendo:
2
דַּבְּרוּ אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַאֲמַרְתֶּם אֲלֵהֶם: אִישׁ אִישׁ, כִּי יִהְיֶה זָב מִבְּשָׂרוֹ--זוֹבוֹ, טָמֵא הוּא.
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When any man has
a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
noteHablen a los hijos de Israel, y díganles: Cuando un hombre tenga
un flujo de su cuerpo, su flujo es impuro.
3
וְזֹאת תִּהְיֶה טֻמְאָתוֹ, בְּזוֹבוֹ: רָר בְּשָׂרוֹ אֶת-זוֹבוֹ, אוֹ-הֶחְתִּים בְּשָׂרוֹ מִזּוֹבוֹ--טֻמְאָתוֹ, הִוא.
And this shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up from his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
noteY esta será su impureza en su flujo: sea que su cuerpo destile su flujo, o que su cuerpo se cierre a su flujo, es su impureza.
4
כָּל-הַמִּשְׁכָּב, אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב עָלָיו הַזָּב--יִטְמָא; וְכָל-הַכְּלִי אֲשֶׁר-יֵשֵׁב עָלָיו, יִטְמָא.
Every bed the one with the discharge lies on shall be unclean, and everything he sits on shall be unclean.
noteToda cama en que se acueste el que tiene el flujo quedará impura, y todo objeto en que se siente quedará impuro.
5
וְאִישׁ, אֲשֶׁר יִגַּע בְּמִשְׁכָּבוֹ--יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY quien toque su cama lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
6
וְהַיֹּשֵׁב, עַל-הַכְּלִי, אֲשֶׁר-יֵשֵׁב עָלָיו, הַזָּב--יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whoever sits on anything the one with the discharge has sat on shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY quien se siente sobre algo en que se haya sentado el que tiene el flujo lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
7
וְהַנֹּגֵעַ, בִּבְשַׂר הַזָּב--יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY quien toque el cuerpo del que tiene el flujo lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
8
וְכִי-יָרֹק הַזָּב, בַּטָּהוֹר--וְכִבֶּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY si el que tiene el flujo escupe sobre alguien que está puro, este lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
9
וְכָל-הַמֶּרְכָּב, אֲשֶׁר יִרְכַּב עָלָיו הַזָּב--יִטְמָא.
And any saddle the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean.
noteY toda silla de montar en que cabalgue el que tiene el flujo quedará impura.
10
וְכָל-הַנֹּגֵעַ, בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה תַחְתָּיו--יִטְמָא, עַד-הָעָרֶב; וְהַנּוֹשֵׂא אוֹתָם--יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening; and whoever carries those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY quien toque cualquier cosa que haya estado debajo de él quedará impuro hasta el atardecer; y quien cargue esas cosas lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
11
וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִגַּע-בּוֹ הַזָּב, וְיָדָיו לֹא-שָׁטַף בַּמָּיִם--וְכִבֶּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whomever the one with the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, that person shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY a quien toque el que tiene el flujo, sin haberse enjuagado las manos en agua, esa persona lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impura hasta el atardecer.
12
וּכְלִי-חֶרֶשׂ אֲשֶׁר-יִגַּע-בּוֹ הַזָּב, יִשָּׁבֵר; וְכָל-כְּלִי-עֵץ--יִשָּׁטֵף, בַּמָּיִם.
And the earthen vessel the one with the discharge touches shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
noteY la vasija de barro que toque el que tiene el flujo será quebrada; y todo utensilio de madera será enjuagado en agua.
13
וְכִי-יִטְהַר הַזָּב, מִזּוֹבוֹ--וְסָפַר לוֹ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים לְטָהֳרָתוֹ, וְכִבֶּס בְּגָדָיו; וְרָחַץ בְּשָׂרוֹ בְּמַיִם חַיִּים, וְטָהֵר.
And when the one with the discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his body in
living water, and he shall be clean.
noteY cuando el que tiene el flujo se purifique de su flujo, contará para sí siete días para su purificación, y lavará sus vestidos, y bañará su cuerpo en
agua viva, y quedará puro.
14
וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי, יִקַּח-לוֹ שְׁתֵּי תֹרִים, אוֹ שְׁנֵי, בְּנֵי יוֹנָה; וּבָא לִפְנֵי יְהוָה, אֶל-פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, וּנְתָנָם, אֶל-הַכֹּהֵן.
And on the eighth day he shall take two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, and come before Jehovah, to the entrance of the
tent of meeting, and give them to the priest.
noteY al octavo día tomará para sí dos tórtolas, o dos pichones, y vendrá delante de Jehová, a la entrada del tabernáculo de reunión, y los dará al sacerdote.
15
וְעָשָׂה אֹתָם, הַכֹּהֵן--אֶחָד חַטָּאת, וְהָאֶחָד עֹלָה; וְכִפֶּר עָלָיו הַכֹּהֵן לִפְנֵי יְהוָה, מִזּוֹבוֹ. {ס}
And the priest shall offer them, one as a sin-offering, and the other as a burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah for his discharge.
noteY el sacerdote los ofrecerá, uno como ofrenda por el pecado, y el otro como holocausto; y el sacerdote hará expiación por él delante de Jehová a causa de su flujo.
16
וְאִישׁ, כִּי-תֵצֵא מִמֶּנּוּ שִׁכְבַת-זָרַע--וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם אֶת-כָּל-בְּשָׂרוֹ, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And if an emission of semen goes out from a man, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY cuando de un hombre salga una emisión de semen, bañará todo su cuerpo en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
17
וְכָל-בֶּגֶד וְכָל-עוֹר, אֲשֶׁר-יִהְיֶה עָלָיו שִׁכְבַת-זָרַע--וְכֻבַּס בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And every garment, and every piece of leather, that has an emission of semen on it, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY toda prenda, y todo cuero, que tenga sobre sí una emisión de semen, será lavado con agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
18
וְאִשָּׁה, אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב אִישׁ אֹתָהּ שִׁכְבַת-זָרַע--וְרָחֲצוּ בַמַּיִם, וְטָמְאוּ עַד-הָעָרֶב. {פ}
And when a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY cuando un hombre se acueste con una mujer y haya emisión de semen, ambos se bañarán en agua, y quedarán impuros hasta el atardecer.
19
וְאִשָּׁה כִּי-תִהְיֶה זָבָה, דָּם יִהְיֶה זֹבָהּ בִּבְשָׂרָהּ--שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תִּהְיֶה בְנִדָּתָהּ, וְכָל-הַנֹּגֵעַ בָּהּ יִטְמָא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And when a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her
monthly separation for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
noteY cuando una mujer tenga flujo, y su flujo en su cuerpo sea sangre, estará en su
separación mensual siete días; y quien la toque quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
20
וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁכַּב עָלָיו בְּנִדָּתָהּ, יִטְמָא; וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר-תֵּשֵׁב עָלָיו, יִטְמָא.
And everything she lies on during her monthly separation shall be unclean; and everything she sits on shall be unclean.
noteY todo aquello sobre lo que se acueste durante su separación mensual quedará impuro; y todo aquello sobre lo que se siente quedará impuro.
21
וְכָל-הַנֹּגֵעַ, בְּמִשְׁכָּבָהּ--יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY quien toque su cama lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
22
וְכָל-הַנֹּגֵעַ--בְּכָל-כְּלִי, אֲשֶׁר-תֵּשֵׁב עָלָיו: יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whoever touches anything she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY quien toque algo en que ella se haya sentado lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
23
וְאִם עַל-הַמִּשְׁכָּב הוּא, אוֹ עַל-הַכְּלִי אֲשֶׁר-הִוא יֹשֶׁבֶת-עָלָיו--בְּנָגְעוֹ-בוֹ: יִטְמָא, עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whether it is the bed or anything she sits on, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
noteY sea la cama o cualquier cosa en que ella esté sentada, cuando él la toque, quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
24
וְאִם שָׁכֹב יִשְׁכַּב אִישׁ אֹתָהּ, וּתְהִי נִדָּתָהּ עָלָיו--וְטָמֵא, שִׁבְעַת יָמִים; וְכָל-הַמִּשְׁכָּב אֲשֶׁר-יִשְׁכַּב עָלָיו, יִטְמָא. {ס}
And if a man lies with her at all, and her monthly separation comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on shall be unclean.
noteY si un hombre llega a acostarse con ella, y su separación mensual pasa sobre él, quedará impuro siete días; y toda cama en que se acueste quedará impura.
25
וְאִשָּׁה כִּי-יָזוּב זוֹב דָּמָהּ יָמִים רַבִּים, בְּלֹא עֶת-נִדָּתָהּ, אוֹ כִי-תָזוּב, עַל-נִדָּתָהּ: כָּל-יְמֵי זוֹב טֻמְאָתָהּ, כִּימֵי נִדָּתָהּ תִּהְיֶה--טְמֵאָה הִוא.
And when a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, not at the time of her monthly separation, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her monthly separation, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness she shall be as in the days of her monthly separation — she is unclean.
noteY cuando una mujer tenga flujo de sangre por muchos días, fuera del tiempo de su separación mensual, o cuando su flujo se prolongue más allá del tiempo de su separación mensual, todos los días del flujo de su impureza será como en los días de su separación mensual —es impura.
26
כָּל-הַמִּשְׁכָּב אֲשֶׁר-תִּשְׁכַּב עָלָיו, כָּל-יְמֵי זוֹבָהּ--כְּמִשְׁכַּב נִדָּתָהּ, יִהְיֶה-לָּהּ; וְכָל-הַכְּלִי, אֲשֶׁר תֵּשֵׁב עָלָיו--טָמֵא יִהְיֶה, כְּטֻמְאַת נִדָּתָהּ.
Every bed she lies on, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her monthly separation; and everything she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her monthly separation.
noteToda cama en que se acueste, todos los días de su flujo, será para ella como la cama de su separación mensual; y todo aquello en que se siente quedará impuro, como la impureza de su separación mensual.
27
וְכָל-הַנּוֹגֵעַ בָּם, יִטְמָא; וְכִבֶּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם, וְטָמֵא עַד-הָעָרֶב.
And whoever touches those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
noteY quien toque esas cosas quedará impuro, y lavará sus vestidos, y se bañará en agua, y quedará impuro hasta el atardecer.
28
וְאִם-טָהֲרָה, מִזּוֹבָהּ--וְסָפְרָה לָּהּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים, וְאַחַר תִּטְהָר.
But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count off seven days for herself, and after that she shall be clean.
notePero si se purifica de su flujo, contará para sí siete días, y después quedará pura.
29
וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי, תִּקַּח-לָהּ שְׁתֵּי תֹרִים, אוֹ שְׁנֵי, בְּנֵי יוֹנָה; וְהֵבִיאָה אוֹתָם אֶל-הַכֹּהֵן, אֶל-פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד.
And on the eighth day she shall take two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
noteY al octavo día tomará para sí dos tórtolas, o dos pichones, y los llevará al sacerdote, a la entrada del tabernáculo de reunión.
30
וְעָשָׂה הַכֹּהֵן אֶת-הָאֶחָד חַטָּאת, וְאֶת-הָאֶחָד עֹלָה; וְכִפֶּר עָלֶיהָ הַכֹּהֵן לִפְנֵי יְהוָה, מִזּוֹב טֻמְאָתָהּ.
And the priest shall offer the one as a sin-offering, and the other as a burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before Jehovah for the discharge of her uncleanness.
noteY el sacerdote ofrecerá uno como ofrenda por el pecado, y el otro como holocausto; y el sacerdote hará expiación por ella delante de Jehová a causa del flujo de su impureza.
31
וְהִזַּרְתֶּם אֶת-בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, מִטֻּמְאָתָם; וְלֹא יָמֻתוּ בְּטֻמְאָתָם, בְּטַמְּאָם אֶת-מִשְׁכָּנִי אֲשֶׁר בְּתוֹכָם.
Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle, which is in their midst.
noteAsí separarán a los hijos de Israel de su impureza, para que no mueran en su impureza al contaminar mi tabernáculo, que está en medio de ellos.
32
זֹאת תּוֹרַת, הַזָּב, וַאֲשֶׁר תֵּצֵא מִמֶּנּוּ שִׁכְבַת-זֶרַע, לְטָמְאָה-בָהּ.
This is the law for the one who has a discharge, and for the one from whom an emission of semen goes out, so that he is unclean by it;
noteEsta es la ley para el que tiene flujo, y para aquel de quien sale una emisión de semen, quedando impuro por ella;
33
וְהַדָּוָה, בְּנִדָּתָהּ, וְהַזָּב אֶת-זוֹבוֹ, לַזָּכָר וְלַנְּקֵבָה; וּלְאִישׁ, אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב עִם-טְמֵאָה. {פ}
and for she who is unwell in her monthly separation, and for the one with a discharge, whether man or woman, and for a man who lies with a woman who is unclean.
notey para la que está indispuesta en su separación mensual, y para el que tiene flujo, sea hombre o mujer, y para el hombre que se acueste con una mujer impura.
Zav — the discharge that gets the most elaborate contact-law in the whole Torah
The Hebrew itself is a euphemism, and this translation follows it rather than resolving it: zav mibsaro, ‘flows from his flesh/body’, never names what actually discharges. NWT makes the anatomy explicit — ‘a discharge from his genital organ’ — almost certainly the correct referent, but a degree of specificity the Hebrew itself declines to state. This translation keeps ‘a discharge from his body’, matching the original’s own indirection rather than closing a gap the text leaves open. KJV and ASV both keep the older ‘issue’; NIV reads ‘an unusual bodily discharge’. On the Spanish shelf, ⚠ RV60 jumps straight to ‘flujo de semen’ at v2 itself — assuming from the first verse a specificity the chapter’s own structure argues against, since vv16–18 go on to treat seminal emission as its own separate, much milder case; NVI’s ‘flujo inusual’ keeps the ambiguity open, closer to the Hebrew.
⚠ What follows is the most elaborate contact-contamination law in the entire Torah — more extensive even than tzaraat’s own (Leviticus 13, already on these pages). A bed, a seat, a saddle, being spat on, being touched, touching what was under him, an earthen vessel (broken outright) versus a wooden one (merely rinsed) — the law tracks contact through an entire day’s furniture and transport with a thoroughness nothing else in this book matches. And when the discharge finally clears, the cleansing water is named the same way Leviticus 14 (already on these pages) already named it: mayim chayim, living water — the third chapter running to use this exact phrase for a purification, and each time this project’s own translation keeps the word every other version smooths away.
Ordinary marital sex makes both partners unclean until evening — and that is the whole point
Verse 18 is the plainest statement in the whole Torah that ritual impurity carries no moral content whatsoever: ordinary marital intercourse, exactly as intended, produces the identical ‘unclean until evening’ as touching a stranger’s sickbed. No sin-offering. No guilt. No confinement, no examination, no priest involved at all — just an evening’s wait and a bath, the same minimal consequence assigned to touching furniture two verses earlier. A married couple doing precisely what the text elsewhere commands (‘be fruitful and multiply’, Genesis 1:28, already on these pages) still crosses this law’s threshold.
⚠ If any single verse in this book proves that tame is a status of APPROACH rather than a verdict on WRONGDOING — the reading this project has argued since Leviticus 11 (already on these pages) — this is it. The same three verses treat a solitary nocturnal emission (v16) and a couple’s shared act (v18) as functionally identical: a body did what bodies do, and the sanctuary’s calendar simply needs an evening to reset before either person may approach it.
Niddah — the law Leviticus 12 already assumed its reader knew
Twice, Leviticus 12 defined a new mother’s first days by comparison — unclean ‘as in the days of her monthly separation’ — without ever explaining the comparison, because this law was the one doing the explaining, whenever a reader got here. Leviticus 12:2 and 12:5 (already on these pages) both lean on it; this is where the loan comes due.
⚠ The rule itself is unremarkable by this chapter’s own standards — seven days, the identical bed-and-seat contamination already run for the man in vv1–15, no offering required at the end. What is worth naming is the word’s afterlife outside this chapter: a euphemism here (KJV ‘her flowers’, RV60 ‘su costumbre’, both languages reaching independently for an indirect, almost domestic word) became, across centuries of interpretation far removed from this text, a byword for female uncleanness in a much harsher sense than the seven-day, evening-resolved, no-offering-needed law actually states. The chapter that follows a woman’s ordinary body with the same procedural calm it gave a man’s discharge and a couple’s marriage bed is not the source of that harsher reading. It is, if anything, the text such readings had to work hardest to get past.
The zavah — and the woman who touched a hem rather than wait to be clean
Verses 25–30 extend the rule to an irregular or prolonged discharge — bleeding outside the expected week, or bleeding that will not stop — and treat it exactly as the male zav was treated: an offering on the eighth day once it clears, sin-offering and burnt-offering both, identical to vv14–15’s own male case. This is precisely the condition the Gospels report a woman living with for twelve straight years.
⚠ ‘There was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years’ (Mark 5:25, already on these pages) — this chapter’s zavah, not for days but for over a decade, with no eighth day ever arriving. By this law’s own terms she made unclean everyone she brushed against; Mark never spells that out, but says she came up behind Jesus in a dense crowd and touched the edge of his cloak, then immediately felt her own body know it was healed — before he even turned around. He does not rebuke her for the contact. He calls her ‘daughter’ and sends her away in peace. The chapter that spent thirty verses tracking exactly how far this condition’s uncleanness could spread through touch is answered, centuries later, by a story where the touch runs the other direction.
Why any of this — the one verse that states the stakes
One verse states outright why any of this exists, and the stakes are put as bluntly as this book ever states anything: ‘so that they do not die in their uncleanness, by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst.’ Not disgust. Not shame. A warning, addressed to the whole nation at once, about approaching a dangerous holiness while carrying an unresolved status — the same danger that killed Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:2, already on these pages) for approaching wrongly, now generalized to an entire people whose ordinary bodies, on ordinary days, put them exactly there.
The four-part colophon that follows (vv32–33) is the closing bracket for a much longer unit than this chapter alone: it names the man’s discharge, the emission of semen, the woman ‘unwell in her monthly separation’, the discharge of either sex, and the man who lies with an unclean woman — five categories in two verses, every one of them an ordinary, blameless, entirely human condition. Nothing in the list is a wrongdoing. Everything in the list, this chapter has just spent thirty-three verses insisting, still matters — because the sanctuary is close, and closeness has rules that have nothing to do with character.
Notes on this translation
Decisions. Hebrew and English Leviticus 15 both run 1–33 — verified against the Masoretic text, no versification shift. Three Masoretic paragraph breaks divide it: closed after v15, open after v18, closed after v24, with a final open break closing the chapter at v33. ‘A discharge from his body’ keeps the Hebrew’s own euphemism (zav mibsaro) rather than resolving it to explicit anatomy, as NWT does. ‘The one with the discharge’ is used throughout rather than a fixed identity-noun, continuing the discipline this project kept for ‘the one with scaly disease’ across Leviticus 13–14 (already on these pages). ‘An emission of semen’ renders shikhvat zera plainly. Niddah keeps Leviticus 12’s own established ‘monthly separation’. Mayim chayim (v13) is kept as ‘living water’, matching Leviticus 14.
Echoes paid. Leviticus 12:2 and 12:5’s own niddah comparison (already on these pages), left unexplained on the promise that this chapter would explain it; mayim chayim from Leviticus 14 (already on these pages), now a third consecutive chapter; the elaborate contact-contamination structure set against Leviticus 13’s own (already on these pages); and Nadab and Abihu’s deaths at Leviticus 10:2 (already on these pages), the concrete case behind this chapter’s abstract warning.
Echoes planted. The woman with the twelve-year discharge, already told at Mark 5:25 (already on these pages), is this chapter’s own zavah (vv25–30) read forward rather than back — the rare case where the New Testament payoff was on these pages before the Torah law it depends on.
⚠ A note on order: Leviticus stands complete on these pages, chapters 1–27.
