Leviticus 14:33-57
New American Standard Bible
Cleansing a Leprous House
33 The Lord further spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:
34 “(A)When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I put a spot of leprosy on a house in the land of your possession, 35 then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘Something like (B)a spot of leprosy has become visible to me in the house.’ 36 The priest shall then command that they empty the house before the priest goes in to look at the spot, so that everything in the house need not become unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to look at the house. 37 So he shall look at the spot, and if the spot on the walls of the house has greenish or reddish depressions and appears deeper than the [a]surface, 38 the priest shall come out of the house, to the [b]doorway, and [c]quarantine the house for seven days. 39 Then the priest shall return on the seventh day and [d]make an inspection. If the spot has indeed spread on the walls of the house, 40 the priest shall order them to pull out the stones with the spot on them and throw them away [e]at an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall have the house scraped all around [f]inside, and they shall dump the plaster that they scrape off at an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they shall take other stones and replace the discarded stones, and he shall take other plaster and replaster the house.
43 “If, however, the spot breaks out again in the house after he has pulled out the stones and scraped the house, and after it has been replastered, 44 then the priest shall come in and [g]make an inspection. If he sees that the spot has indeed spread in the house, it is (C)a malignant spot in the house; it is unclean. 45 The owner shall therefore tear down the house, its stones, its timbers, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall take them outside the city to an (D)unclean place. 46 Moreover, whoever goes into the house during the time that he has [h]quarantined it, becomes (E)unclean until evening. 47 Likewise, whoever lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48 “If, on the other hand, the priest comes in and [i]makes an inspection and the spot has not indeed spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean because the spot has [j]not reappeared. 49 To cleanse the house then, he shall take (F)two birds, cedar wood, a [k]scarlet string, and hyssop, 50 and he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over [l]running water. 51 Then he shall take the cedar wood, the (G)hyssop, and the [m]scarlet string, with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird as well as in the [n]running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 So he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the [o]running water, along with the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the [p]scarlet string. 53 However, he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”
54 This is the law for any spot of leprosy—even for a (H)scale, 55 and for the (I)leprous garment or house, 56 and (J)for a swelling, for a scab, and for a bright spot— 57 to teach [q]when they are unclean and [r]when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 14:37 Lit wall
- Leviticus 14:38 Lit doorway of the house
- Leviticus 14:38 Lit separate
- Leviticus 14:39 Lit look
- Leviticus 14:40 Lit to
- Leviticus 14:41 Lit from the house
- Leviticus 14:44 Lit look
- Leviticus 14:46 Lit separated
- Leviticus 14:48 Lit looks
- Leviticus 14:48 Lit healed
- Leviticus 14:49 Lit scarlet color
- Leviticus 14:50 Lit living
- Leviticus 14:51 Lit scarlet color
- Leviticus 14:51 Lit living
- Leviticus 14:52 Lit living
- Leviticus 14:52 Lit scarlet color
- Leviticus 14:57 Lit on the day of uncleanness
- Leviticus 14:57 Lit on the day of cleanness
Leviticus 14:33-57
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.”
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
