Leviticus 14:33-16:34

New Living Translation

Treatment of Contaminated Houses

³³ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ “When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, I may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.^{[a] 35} The owner of such a house must then go to the priest and say, ‘It appears that my house has some kind of mildew.’ ³⁶ Before the priest goes in to inspect the house, he must have the house emptied so nothing inside will be pronounced ceremonially unclean. ³⁷ Then the priest will go in and examine the mildew on the walls. If he finds greenish or reddish streaks and the contamination appears to go deeper than the wall’s surface, ³⁸ the priest will step outside the door and put the house in quarantine for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day the priest must return for another inspection. If he finds that the mildew on the walls of the house has spread, ⁴⁰ the priest must order that the stones from those areas be removed. The contaminated material will then be taken outside the town to an area designated as ceremonially unclean. ⁴¹ Next the inside walls of the entire house must be scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped in the unclean place outside the town. ⁴² Other stones will be brought in to replace the ones that were removed, and the walls will be replastered.

⁴³ “But if the mildew reappears after all the stones have been replaced and the house has been scraped and replastered, ⁴⁴ the priest must return and inspect the house again. If he finds that the mildew has spread, the walls are clearly contaminated with a serious mildew, and the house is defiled. ⁴⁵ It must be torn down, and all its stones, timbers, and plaster must be carried out of town to the place designated as ceremonially unclean. ⁴⁶ Those who enter the house during the period of quarantine will be ceremonially unclean until evening, ⁴⁷ and all who sleep or eat in the house must wash their clothing.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest returns for his inspection and finds that the mildew has not reappeared in the house after the fresh plastering, he will pronounce it clean because the mildew is clearly gone. ⁴⁹ To purify the house the priest must take two birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. ⁵⁰ He will slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot filled with fresh water. ⁵¹ He will take the cedar stick, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, and dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and into the fresh water. Then he will sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² When the priest has purified the house in exactly this way, ⁵³ he will release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. Through this process, the priest will purify the house, and it will be ceremonially clean.

⁵⁴ “These are the instructions for dealing with serious skin diseases,^[b] including scabby sores; ⁵⁵ and mildew,^[c] whether on clothing or in a house; ⁵⁶ and a swelling on the skin, a rash, or discolored skin. ⁵⁷ This procedure will determine whether a person or object is ceremonially clean or unclean.

“These are the instructions regarding skin diseases and mildew.”

Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“Any man who has a bodily discharge is ceremonially unclean. ³ This defilement is caused by his discharge, whether the discharge continues or stops. In either case the man is unclean. ⁴ Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies and anything on which he sits will be ceremonially unclean. ⁵ So if you touch the man’s bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁶ If you sit where the man with the discharge has sat, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁷ If you touch the man with the discharge, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁸ If the man spits on you, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁹ Any saddle blanket on which the man rides will be ceremonially unclean. ¹⁰ If you touch anything that was under the man, you will be unclean until evening. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ¹¹ If the man touches you without first rinsing his hands, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ¹² Any clay pot the man touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil he touches must be rinsed with water.

¹³ “When the man with the discharge is healed, he must count off seven days for the period of purification. Then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in fresh water, and he will be ceremonially clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he must get two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle^[d] and give his offerings to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest will offer one bird for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify^[e] the man before the Lord for his discharge.

¹⁶ “Whenever a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until the next evening.^{[f] 17} Any clothing or leather with semen on it must be washed in water, and it will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸ After a man and a woman have sexual intercourse, they must each bathe in water, and they will remain unclean until the next evening.

¹⁹ “Whenever a woman has her menstrual period, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her during that time will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Anything on which the woman lies or sits during the time of her period will be unclean. ²¹ If any of you touch her bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ²² If you touch any object she has sat on, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ²³ This includes her bed or any other object she has sat on; you will be unclean until evening if you touch it. ²⁴ If a man has sexual intercourse with her and her blood touches him, her menstrual impurity will be transmitted to him. He will remain unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will be unclean.

²⁵ “If a woman has a flow of blood for many days that is unrelated to her menstrual period, or if the blood continues beyond the normal period, she is ceremonially unclean. As during her menstrual period, the woman will be unclean as long as the discharge continues. ²⁶ Any bed she lies on and any object she sits on during that time will be unclean, just as during her normal menstrual period. ²⁷ If any of you touch these things, you will be ceremonially unclean. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.

²⁸ “When the woman’s bleeding stops, she must count off seven days. Then she will be ceremonially clean. ²⁹ On the eighth day she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons and present them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ³⁰ The priest will offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify her before the Lord for the ceremonial impurity caused by her bleeding.

³¹ “This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them. ³² These are the instructions for dealing with anyone who has a bodily discharge—a man who is unclean because of an emission of semen ³³ or a woman during her menstrual period. It applies to any man or woman who has a bodily discharge, and to a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.”

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.

³ “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. ⁵ Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.^{[g] 7} Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^{[h] 8} He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. ⁹ Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. ¹⁰ The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.^[i]

¹¹ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, ¹² he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain. ¹³ There in the Lord’s presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant.^[j] If he follows these instructions, he will not die. ¹⁴ Then he must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He must sprinkle blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement cover.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood. ¹⁶ Through this process, he will purify^[k] the Most Holy Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites. ¹⁷ No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the Lord.

¹⁸ “Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the Lord. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.

²⁰ “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. ²¹ He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. ²² As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.

²³ “When Aaron goes back into the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he was wearing when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there. ²⁴ Then he must bathe himself with water in a sacred place, put on his regular garments, and go out to sacrifice a burnt offering for himself and a burnt offering for the people. Through this process, he will purify himself and the people, making them right with the Lord. ²⁵ He must then burn all the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man chosen to drive the scapegoat into the wilderness of Azazel must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Then he may return to the camp.

²⁷ “The bull and the goat presented as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron takes into the Most Holy Place for the purification ceremony, will be carried outside the camp. The animals’ hides, internal organs, and dung are all to be burned. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water before returning to the camp.

²⁹ “On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn,^[l] you must deny yourselves.^[m] Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you. ³⁰ On that day offerings of purification will be made for you,^[n] and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins. ³¹ It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you. ³² In future generations, the purification^[o] ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments ³³ and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. ³⁴ This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the Lord once each year.”

Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the Lord had commanded him.