11 Bible Verses about Ritual Washing

"My lord, you know," I replied. "They are those," he said, "who have just passed through the great distress, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Blessed are those who wash their robes clean, that they may have a right to the Tree of Life, and may go through the gates into the city.

Since then, brethren, we have free access to the Holy place through the blood of Jesus, by the new and ever-living way which He opened up for us through the rending of the veil--that is to say, of His earthly nature-- and since we have a great Priest who has authority over the house of God,read more.
let us draw near with sincerity and unfaltering faith, having had our hearts sprinkled, once for all, from consciences oppressed with sin, and our bodies bathed in pure water.

Then He poured water into a basin, and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel which He had put round Him. When He came to Simon Peter, Peter objected. "Master," he said, "are *you* going to wash my feet?" "What I am doing," answered Jesus, "for the present you do not know, but afterwards you shall know."read more.
"Never, while the world lasts," said Peter, "shall you wash my feet." "If I do not wash you," replied Jesus, "you have no share with me." "Master," said Peter, "wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." "Any one who has lately bathed," said Jesus, "does not need to wash more than his feet, but is clean all over. And you my disciples are clean, and yet this is not true of all of you."

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you who are half-hearted towards God.

Now there were six stone jars standing there (in accordance with the Jewish regulations for purification)

As the result, a discussion having arisen on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification,

Then there came to Jesus a party of Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem, who inquired, "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the Elders by not washing their hands before meals?" "Why do you, too," He retorted, "transgress God's commands for the sake of your tradition?read more.
For God said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother'; and 'Let him who reviles father or mother be certainly put to death'; but you--this is what you say: 'If a man says to his father or mother, That is consecrated, whatever it is, which otherwise you should have received from me-- he shall be absolved from honouring his father'; and so you have abrogated God's Word for the sake of your tradition. Hypocrites! well did Isaiah prophesy of you, "'This is a People who honour Me with their lips, while their heart is far away from Me; but it is in vain they worship Me, while they lay down precepts which are mere human rules.'" Then, when He had called the people to Him, Jesus said, "Hear and understand. It is not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him; but it is what comes out of his mouth--*that* defiles a man."

Then the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body. They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with 'unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) (For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are, zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without first carefully washing their hands,read more.
and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.) So the Pharisees and Scribes put the question to Him: "Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the Elders, and eat their food with unclean hands?" "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," He replied; "as it is written, "'This People honour Me with their lips, while their hearts are far away from Me: But idle is their devotion while they lay down precepts which are mere human rules.' "You neglect God's Commandment: you hold fast to men's traditions." "Praiseworthy indeed!" He added, "to set at nought God's Commandment in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother' and again, 'He who curses father or mother, let him die the death.' But *you* say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, It is a Korban (that is, a thing devoted to God) And so you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or mother, thus nullifying God's precept by your tradition which you have handed down. And many things of that kind you do." Then Jesus called the people to Him again. "Listen to me, all of you," He said, "and understand. There is nothing outside a man which entering him can make him unclean; but it is the things which come out of a man that make him unclean." No translation After He had left the crowd and gone indoors, His disciples began to ask Him about this figure of speech. "Have *you* also so little understanding?" He replied; "do you not understand that anything whatever that enters a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and passes away ejected from him?" By these words Jesus pronounced all kinds of food clean. "What comes out of a man," He added, "that it is which makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts, their evil purposes proceed--fornication, theft, murder, adultery, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, reviling, pride, reckless folly: all these wicked things come out from within and make a man unclean."

When He had thus spoken, a Pharisee invited Him to breakfast at his house; so He entered and took His place at table. Now the Pharisee saw to his surprise that He did not wash His hands before breakfasting. The Master however said to him, "Here we see how you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup or plate, while your secret hearts are full of greed and selfishness.read more.
Foolish men! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But as to what is within, give alms, and instantly all is clean in you.

These arrangements having long been completed, the priests, when conducting the divine services, continually enter the outer tent. But into the second, the High Priest goes only on one day of the year, and goes alone, taking with him blood, which he offers on his own behalf and on account of the sins which the people have ignorantly committed. And the lesson which the Holy Spirit teaches is this--that the way into the true Holy place is not yet open so long as the outer tent still remains in existence.read more.
And this is a figure--for the time now present--answering to which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, unable though they are to give complete freedom from sin to him who ministers. For their efficacy depends only on meats and drinks and various washings, ceremonies pertaining to the body and imposed until a time of reformation. But Christ appeared as a High Priest of the blessings that are soon to come by means of the greater and more perfect Tent of worship, a tent which has not been built with hands--that is to say does not belong to this material creation-- and once for all entered the Holy place, taking with Him not the blood of goats and calves, but His own blood, and thus procuring eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have contracted defilement make them holy so as to bring about ceremonial purity, how much more certainly shall the blood of Christ, who strengthened by the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God, free from blemish, purify your consciences from lifeless works for you to serve the ever-living God?