נָטַל אֶת הַדָּם מִמִּי שֶׁהָיָה מְמָרֵס בּוֹ, נִכְנַס לַמָּקוֹם שֶׁנִּכְנַס, וְעָמַד בַּמָּקוֹם שֶׁעָמַד, וְהִזָּה מִמֶּנּוּ אַחַת לְמַעְלָה וְשֶׁבַע לְמַטָּה, וְלֹא הָיָה מִתְכַּוֵּן לְהַזּוֹת לֹא לְמַעְלָה וְלֹא לְמַטָּה, אֶלָּא כְמַצְלִיף. וְכָךְ הָיָה מוֹנֶה, אַחַת, אַחַת וְאַחַת, אַחַת וּשְׁתַּיִם, אַחַת וְשָׁלשׁ, אַחַת וְאַרְבַּע, אַחַת וְחָמֵשׁ, אַחַת וָשֵׁשׁ, אַחַת וָשֶׁבַע. יָצָא וְהִנִּיחוֹ עַל כַּן הַזָּהָב שֶׁבַּהֵיכָל:
He took the blood from the one stirring it, entered where he had entered before [in the holy of holies], stood where he had stood [between the poles], and he sprinkled from it, one above and seven below. And he did not direct his sprinkling, neither above, [so that the one, above, land on the upper point of the kaporeth (the ark cover)] nor below, [so that the seven, below, land across its diameter; for the drops did not touch the kaporeth, but fell to the ground], but (he sprinkled them) as a "lasher," [who begins between the shoulders and works his way downwards. In like manner, he so executed his sprinklings that they fell on the ground in a row, one beneath the other.] And thus would he count: "One," "one and one," "one and two," "one and three," "one and four," "one and five," "one and six," "one and seven." [For if he did not count the first upper sprinkling independently and all seven below, sometimes he might err and count the first sprinkling together with the seven below, counting the first one below as "two." And it is not to be entertained that he count the first one above together with the seven below and count until eight. For it may be that it is a mitzvah to treat the lower sprinklings as a unit of seven and not as part of eight.] And he placed it (the sprinkling bowl) on the golden base in the sanctuary.
Vayikra Rabbah
...The wicked Titus entered the sanctum of the Holy of Holies, and with his sword brandished in his hand he slashed the two curtains, and taking two whores he spread out a scroll of the Law beneath them and ravished them on top of the altar, and his sword came out full of blood, and some say from the blood of Yom Kippur [sprinkled by the Kohen Gadol on the curtains]. He [Titus] began to revile and blaspheme saying, “He who wages battle with a king in the desert and triumphs is different from him who wages battle in the king's own palace and vanquishes him.” What did he [Titus] do? He gathered all of the Temple vessels and put them in a sack and descended to a ship. At sea, a wave rose up to drown him. He said, “It would appear that this nation's god has power only on water. He [God] only punished the generation of Enosh with water, likewise He could only punish the generation of the flood with water, the generation of the Dispersal and Pharaoh and his army were only punished with water. So I, when I was in His house and domain He had no power to stand against me, and now he opposes me here!” The Holy One said, “By your life, I will punish you with the most insignificant of my creatures.” Immediately God hinted to the sea and it stayed its anger. When he arrived in Rome, all of the citizens came out and acclaimed him: “Conqueror of the Barbarians.” Immediately they heated the bath-house and he entered and washed himself. When he came out they poured for him the double glass for after the bath, and God appointed a mosquito for him and it entered his nose and gnawed its way up until it reached his brain. He said, “Call for the doctors to split open the head of that man [Titus] so I can know with what the God of that nation has punished him.” Forthwith they summoned the doctors, and they split open his brain and found in it the likeness of a young dove and its weight was two litras. R. Elazar son of R. Yosi said: I was there, and they put the young bird on one side [of the scales], and two litras on the other, and they balances one another. They took it and put it in a bowl, and as the mosquito withered so Titus deteriorated. The mosquito flew away, and away flew the soul of the wicked Titus....
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