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The Law for Cleansing Lepers

14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: It shall be reported to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him and see if the disease is healed in the leprous person. Then the priest shall command that two live clean birds and cedar wood and scarlet fabric and hyssop be brought for him who is to be cleansed. The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered in a clay vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. Then he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from leprosy, and he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

He that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, so that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp and shall stay outside of his tent seven days. But it shall be on the seventh day that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, all his hair he shall shave off, and he shall wash his clothes. Also he shall wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.

10 On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and three-tenths of an ephah[a] of wheat flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil.[b] 11 The priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean and those things before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

12 Then the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 13 Then he shall slaughter the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering in the holy sanctuary. For as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the guilt offering. It is most holy. 14 And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 And some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand the priest shall put on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, and on the blood of the guilt offering. 18 And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.

19 The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his ceremonial uncleanness, and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 Then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar, and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

21 But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, and one-tenth of an ephah[c] of wheat flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two pigeons, such as he is able to afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

23 He shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord. 24 The priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering; and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 Next the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. 28 Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot on the place of the blood of the guilt offering. 29 The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour on the head of him who is to be cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord. 30 He shall offer one of the turtledoves or the pigeons, such as he can afford, 31 even such as he is able to get, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with the grain offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord.

32 This is the law for a person who has a leprous sore who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.

The Law About Leprous Houses

33 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 34 When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving to you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house of the land of your possession, 35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, “It seems to me there is some disease in the house.” 36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes into it to examine the disease, so that all that is in the house is not made unclean. Afterwards, the priest shall go in to examine the house. 37 He shall examine the disease and see if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, which appear to go deeper than the wall. 38 Then the priest shall go out to the door of the house and close off the house seven days. 39 The priest shall return on the seventh day and shall examine and see if the disease has spread in the walls of the house. 40 Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the disease appears and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped all around, and they shall pour out the plaster that they scrape off outside the city into an unclean place. 42 And they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and shall plaster the house.

43 If the disease comes again and breaks out in the house after he has taken away the stones and after he has scraped the house and after it is plastered, 44 then the priest shall come and examine and see if the disease has spread in the house. If the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprosy in the house; it is unclean. 45 He shall break down the house, the stones and the timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.

46 Moreover, he who goes into the house while it is closed off shall be unclean until the evening. 47 And he who sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

48 If the priest comes in and examines it and sees the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the disease is healed. 49 He shall take two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop to cleanse the house. 50 Then he shall kill one of the birds in a clay vessel over running water. 51 He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 Then he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet. 53 But he shall let the living bird loose outside the city into the open fields and make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.

54 This is the law for all manner of leprous sore and scale, 55 and for the disease of a garment, or of a house, 56 and for a swelling, or for a scab, or for a spot, 57 to discern when it is unclean and when it is clean.

This is the law of leprosy.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 14:10 Likely about 11 pounds, or 5 kilograms.
  2. Leviticus 14:10 About ⅓ quart, or 0.3 liter; and in vv. 12, 15, 21, and 24.
  3. Leviticus 14:21 Likely about 3½ pounds, or 1.6 kilograms.

Cleansing From Defiling Skin Diseases

14 The Lord said to Moses, “These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest:(A) The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them.(B) If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease,[a](C) the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop(D) be brought for the person to be cleansed.(E) Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot.(F) He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.(G) Seven times(H) he shall sprinkle(I) the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.(J)

“The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes,(K) shave off all their hair and bathe with water;(L) then they will be ceremonially clean.(M) After this they may come into the camp,(N) but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. On the seventh day(O) they must shave off all their hair;(P) they must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water, and they will be clean.(Q)

10 “On the eighth day(R) they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb(S) a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah[b](T) of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering,(U) and one log[c] of oil.(V) 11 The priest who pronounces them clean shall present(W) both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(X)

12 “Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering,(Y) along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.(Z) 13 He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area(AA) where the sin offering[d] and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest;(AB) it is most holy. 14 The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.(AC) 15 The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand,(AD) 16 dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lord seven times.(AE) 17 The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.(AF) 18 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed(AG) and make atonement for them before the Lord.

19 “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness.(AH) After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering 20 and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for them,(AI) and they will be clean.(AJ)

21 “If, however, they are poor(AK) and cannot afford these,(AL) they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah[e] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, 22 and two doves or two young pigeons,(AM) such as they can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.(AN)

23 “On the eighth day they must bring them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting,(AO) before the Lord.(AP) 24 The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering,(AQ) together with the log of oil,(AR) and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.(AS) 25 He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.(AT) 26 The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand,(AU) 27 and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord. 28 Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 29 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the Lord.(AV) 30 Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford,(AW) 31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering,(AX) together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.(AY)

32 These are the regulations for anyone who has a defiling skin disease(AZ) and who cannot afford the regular offerings(BA) for their cleansing.

Cleansing From Defiling Molds

33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 34 “When you enter the land of Canaan,(BB) which I am giving you as your possession,(BC) and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, 35 the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’ 36 The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. 37 He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish(BD) depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.(BE) 39 On the seventh day(BF) the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls, 40 he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town.(BG) 41 He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. 42 Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

43 “If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, 44 the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean.(BH) 45 It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

46 “Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening.(BI) 47 Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.(BJ)

48 “But if the priest comes to examine it and the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean,(BK) because the defiling mold is gone. 49 To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop.(BL) 50 He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot.(BM) 51 Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop,(BN) the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.(BO) 52 He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. 53 Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields(BP) outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.(BQ)

54 These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease,(BR) for a sore, 55 for defiling molds(BS) in fabric or in a house, 56 and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot,(BT) 57 to determine when something is clean or unclean.

These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.(BU)

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 14:3 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 7, 32, 54 and 57.
  2. Leviticus 14:10 That is, probably about 11 pounds or about 5 kilograms
  3. Leviticus 14:10 That is, about 1/3 quart or about 0.3 liter; also in verses 12, 15, 21 and 24
  4. Leviticus 14:13 Or purification offering; also in verses 19, 22 and 31
  5. Leviticus 14:21 That is, probably about 3 1/2 pounds or about 1.6 kilograms