Rules for Those With Skin Diseases

14 The Lord said to Moses, ² “These are the rules for people who have had a skin disease and have been made well. These rules are for making them clean.

“A priest must look at those who had the skin disease. ³ The priest must go to them outside the camp and look to see if the skin disease is healed. ⁴ If they are healthy, the priest will tell them to do these things: They must bring two clean birds that are still alive, a piece of cedar wood, a piece of red cloth, and a hyssop plant. ⁵ Then the priest must order one bird to be killed in a clay bowl over running water. ⁶ He must take the other bird that is still alive and the piece of cedar wood, the piece of red cloth, and the hyssop plant and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. ⁷ He must sprinkle the blood seven times on those who had the skin disease. Then he must announce that they are clean. After that the priest must go to an open field and let the living bird go free.

⁸ “The people going through this purification ceremony must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and wash with water. Then they will be clean. They may then go into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day, they must shave off all their hair. They must shave their head, their beard, and their eyebrows—yes, all their hair. Then they must wash their clothes and bathe their bodies in water. Then they will be clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day, anyone who had a skin disease must take two male lambs that have nothing wrong with them and a one-year-old female lamb that has nothing wrong with it. They must also take 24 cups^[a] of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and 2/3 of a pint^[b] of olive oil. ¹¹ The priest must bring that person and those sacrifices before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. (This must be the same priest who announced that the person is clean.) ¹² The priest will take one of the lambs and the oil as a guilt offering. He will lift them in front of the Lord to show they were presented to God. ¹³ Then the priest will kill the male lamb in the holy place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest. It is very holy.

¹⁴ “The priest will take some of the blood of the guilt offering. He will put some of this blood on the tip of the right ear of the person to be made clean. The priest will put some of this blood on the thumb of the right hand and on the big toe of the right foot of that person. ¹⁵ The priest will also take some of the oil and pour it into his own left palm. ¹⁶ Then the priest will dip the finger of his right hand into the oil that is in his left palm. He will use his finger to sprinkle some of the oil seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷ Then he will put some of the oil that is in his palm on the person to be made clean. He will put that oil on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering. The priest will put some of the oil on the tip of the person’s right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the person’s right foot. ¹⁸ He will put the oil that is left in his palm on the head of the person to be made clean. In this way he will make that person pure before the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then the priest must offer the sin offering to make that person pure. After that he will kill the animal for the burnt offering. ²⁰ He will then offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. In this way the priest will make that person pure, and that person will become clean.

²¹ “A poor person might not be able to afford all these offerings. So that poor person can use one male lamb as a guilt offering. It will be presented to God so that the priest can make that person pure. The poor person must take 8 cups^[c] of fine flour mixed with oil. This flour will be used for a grain offering. The poor person must also take 2/3 of a pint of olive oil ²² and two doves or two young pigeons. Even poor people can afford these things. One bird will be a sin offering, and the other will be a burnt offering.

²³ “On the eighth day, that person will bring these things to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. These things will be offered before the Lord so that the person can become clean. ²⁴ The priest will take the lamb for the guilt offering and the oil, and he will lift them up to show they were offered before the Lord. ²⁵ Then he will kill the lamb of the guilt offering, take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person to be made clean. The priest will put some of this blood on the thumb of the right hand and on the big toe of the right foot of this person. ²⁶ He will also pour some of this oil into his own left palm. ²⁷ He will use the finger of his right hand to sprinkle some of the oil that is in his left palm seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he will put some of the oil that is in his palm on the same places he put the blood from the guilt offering. He will put some of the oil on the tip of the right ear of the person to be made clean. The priest will put some of the oil on the thumb of the right hand and on the big toe of the person’s right foot. ²⁹ He will put the oil that is left in his palm on the head of the person to be made clean. In this way he will make that person pure before the Lord.

³⁰ “Then the priest must offer one of the doves or young pigeons. (He must offer whichever the person can afford.) ³¹ He must offer one of these birds as a sin offering and the other bird as a burnt offering. He must offer the birds with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make that person pure before the Lord, and that person will become clean.”

³² These are the rules for making people clean after they become well from a skin disease. These are the rules for those who cannot afford the regular sacrifices for becoming clean.

Rules for Mildew in a House

³³ The Lord also said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ “I am giving the land of Canaan to your people. Your people will enter that land. At that time I might cause mildew to grow in someone’s house. ³⁵ The person who owns that house must come and tell the priest, ‘I see something like mildew in my house.’

³⁶ “Then the priest must order the people to take everything out of the house before he goes in to look at the mildew. Then the priest will not have to say everything in the house is unclean. After the people have taken everything out of the house, the priest will go in to look at the house. ³⁷ He will look at the mildew. If the mildew on the walls of the house has holes that are a green or red color, and if the mildew goes into the wall’s surface, ³⁸ he must go out of the house and lock the house for seven days.

³⁹ “On the seventh day the priest must come back and check the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ then he must order the people to tear out the stones with the mildew on them and throw them away. They must put these stones at a special unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹ Then the priest must have the entire house scraped inside. The people must throw away the plaster that was scraped off the walls. They must put that plaster at a special unclean place outside the city. ⁴² Then new stones must be put in the walls, and the walls must be covered with new plaster.

⁴³ “Maybe someone took away the old stones and plaster and put in new stones and plaster. And maybe mildew again appears in that house. ⁴⁴ Then the priest must come in and check the house. If the infection has spread in the house, it is a disease that spreads quickly to other places. So the house is unclean. ⁴⁵ The house must be torn down. All the stones, plaster, and pieces of wood must be taken to the special unclean place outside the city. ⁴⁶ Anyone who goes into that house will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁷ Anyone who eats in that house or lies down in there must wash their clothes.

⁴⁸ “After new stones and plaster are put in a house, the priest must check the house. If the mildew has not spread through the house, the priest will announce that the house is clean, because the mildew is gone.

⁴⁹ “Then, to make the house clean, the priest must take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a piece of red cloth, and a hyssop plant. ⁵⁰ He will kill one bird in a clay bowl over running water. ⁵¹ Then he will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the piece of red cloth, and the living bird and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed over running water. Then he will sprinkle that blood on the house seven times. ⁵² In this way he will use these things to make the house clean. ⁵³ He will go to an open field outside the city and let the living bird go free. In this way the priest will make the house pure. The house will be clean.”

⁵⁴ These are the rules for any infection of leprosy, ⁵⁵ for mildew on pieces of cloth or in a house. ⁵⁶ These are the rules for swellings, rashes, or bright spots on the skin. ⁵⁷ These rules teach when something is clean and when something is unclean. These are the rules about these kinds of disease.