(as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"),
The third ceremony was the ritual purification of the mother after childbirth. In the case of a male child this took place forty days after the birth, when the mother presented a lamb for a burnt offering and a bird for a sin offering. If she was too poor to afford a lamb she could offer another bird instead (see Leviticus 12:1-8).