⁴⁶ As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.

Outcasts Visit the Enemy Camp

³ Now there were four men with leprosy^[a] sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other.

⁵ The Lord struck the king with leprosy,^[a] which lasted until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house. The king’s son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.

²¹ So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.

¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had done nothing more than spit in her face, wouldn’t she be defiled for seven days? So keep her outside the camp for seven days, and after that she may be accepted back.”

¹⁵ So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again.

Purity in Israel’s Camp

5 The Lord gave these instructions to Moses: ² “Command the people of Israel to remove from the camp anyone who has a skin disease^[a] or a discharge, or who has become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person. ³ This command applies to men and women alike. Remove them so they will not defile the camp in which I live among them.” ⁴ So the Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses and removed such people from the camp.

¹⁵ Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

²⁷ Nothing evil^[a] will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

¹⁵ Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. ¹⁶ Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal.

⁵ These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.