Leviticus 14
English Standard Version
Laws for Cleansing Lepers
14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. (A)He shall be brought to the priest, 3 and the priest shall go (B)out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, 4 the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live[a] clean birds and (C)cedarwood and (D)scarlet yarn and (E)hyssop. 5 And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh[b] water. 6 He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7 And he shall (F)sprinkle it (G)seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall (H)let the living bird go (I)into the open field. 8 And he who is to be cleansed (J)shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but (K)live outside his tent seven days. 9 And (L)on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he (M)shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.
10 “And on the eighth day he (N)shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a (O)grain offering of three tenths of an ephah[c] of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log[d] of oil. 11 And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and (P)offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and (Q)wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 13 And he shall kill the lamb (R)in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For (S)the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; (T)it is most holy. 14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it (U)on the lobe 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 Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand 16 and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe 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 top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18 And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. (V)Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. 19 The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the (W)grain offering on the altar. (X)Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21 “But (Y)if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering (Z)to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; 22 (AA)also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 (AB)And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. 24 (AC)And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 25 And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. (AD)And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe 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 And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. 28 And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe 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, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. 29 And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord. 30 And he shall offer, of the (AE)turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, 31 one[e] for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. (AF)And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who is being cleansed. 32 This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford (AG)the offerings for his cleansing.”
Laws for Cleansing Houses
33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 34 “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you (AH)for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, 35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘There seems to me to be some case of (AI)disease in my house.’ 36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. 37 And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, 38 then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house.
43 “If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, 44 then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a (AJ)persistent leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. 46 Moreover, whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, 47 and whoever sleeps in the house (AK)shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48 “But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed. 49 And for the (AL)cleansing of the house he shall take (AM)two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, 50 and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water 51 and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. 53 And he shall let the live bird go out of the city (AN)into the open country. So he shall (AO)make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.”
54 This is the law for any case of leprous disease: for (AP)an itch, 55 for (AQ)leprous disease in a garment or in (AR)a house, 56 and (AS)for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, 57 to (AT)show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 14:4 Or wild
- Leviticus 14:5 Or running; Hebrew living; also verses 6, 50, 51, 52
- Leviticus 14:10 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
- Leviticus 14:10 A log was about 1/3 quart or 0.3 liter
- Leviticus 14:31 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew afford, 31such as he can afford, one
Leviticus 14
Common English Bible
Persons with skin disease
14 The Lord said to Moses, 2 This will be the Instruction for anyone with skin disease[a] at the time of purification: When it has been reported to the priest, 3 he will go outside the camp. If the priest sees that the person afflicted with skin disease has been healed of the infection, 4 the priest will order that two birds—wild[b] and clean—and cedarwood, crimson yarn, and hyssop be brought for the person who needs purification. 5 The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over fresh water in a pottery jar. 6 He will then take the other wild bird, along with the cedarwood, crimson yarn, and hyssop, and will dip all of this into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 7 He will sprinkle the person who needs purification from skin disease seven times and declare that they are clean. Then the priest will release the wild bird into the countryside. 8 The person who needs purification will then wash their clothes, shave off all of their hair, and bathe in water; at that point, they will be clean. After that, they can return to the camp, but they must live outside their tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day, the person must shave off all their hair again: head, beard, and eyebrows—everything. They must wash their clothes and bathe in water; then they will be clean again.
10 On the eighth day, that person must take two flawless male sheep, one flawless one-year-old ewe, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah[c] of choice flour mixed with oil, and one log[d] of oil. 11 The priest performing the purification will place these and the person needing purification before the Lord at the meeting tent’s entrance.
12 The priest will take one of the male sheep and present it as a compensation offering, along with the log of oil, and will lift them as an uplifted offering before the Lord. 13 The priest will slaughter the sheep at the same place where the purification offering and the entirely burned offering are slaughtered: in the holy area. The compensation offering, like the purification offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14 The priest will take some of the blood from the compensation offering and will put it on the right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the person needing purification. 15 Then the priest will take some of the log of oil and pour it into his left palm. 16 The priest will then dip his right finger into the oil and sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 Then the priest will put some of the oil that is left in his hand on the right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the person needing purification—this oil will be placed on top of the blood of the compensation offering. 18 The priest will put whatever is left of the oil in his hand on the head of the person needing purification. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for the person before the Lord.
19 The priest will then perform the purification offering and make reconciliation for the person needing purification from their uncleanness. After that, the entirely burned offering will be slaughtered. 20 The priest will offer up the entirely burned offering and the grain offering on the altar. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for the person, and they will be clean again.
21 Now if the person is poor and cannot afford these things, they can bring one male sheep as a compensation offering, to be lifted up in order to make reconciliation for them; a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil; a log of oil; 22 and two turtledoves or two pigeons, whatever they can afford—one as a purification offering and the other as an entirely burned offering. 23 On the eighth day, they must bring these items for their purification to the priest at the meeting tent’s entrance before the Lord.
24 The priest will take the male sheep for the compensation offering and the log of oil, and will lift them as an uplifted offering before the Lord. 25 The priest will slaughter the sheep for the compensation offering and will take some of its blood and put it on the right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the person needing purification. 26 The priest will pour some of the oil into his left palm. 27 Next, the priest will sprinkle some of the oil seven times before the Lord using his right finger. 28 The priest will then put some of the oil that is in his hand on the right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the person needing purification—on top of the same places as the blood of the compensation offering. 29 The priest will put whatever is left of the oil in his hand on the head of the person needing purification, to make reconciliation for them before the Lord.
30 The person will then offer one of the turtledoves or pigeons, whatever they can afford— 31 one as a purification offering and the other as an entirely burned offering along with the grain offering.[e] In this way, the priest will make reconciliation before the Lord for the person needing purification.
32 This is the Instruction concerning those who have an infection of skin disease but who cannot afford the normal means of purification.
Houses with skin disease
33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 34 When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving to you as a possession, and I put an infection of skin disease on a house in the land you possess, 35 the homeowner must come and tell the priest, “I think some sort of infection is in my house.” 36 The priest will order that the house be emptied before he comes to examine it so that nothing else in the house will become unclean. After that, the priest will come to examine the house. 37 If he examines the infection, and the infection in the walls of the house consists of greenish or reddish depressions, which appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 the priest will exit the house, go to the front door, and quarantine the house for seven days. 39 On the seventh day, the priest will return. If he finds that the infection has spread over the walls of the house, 40 the priest will order the stones in which the infection is found to be pulled out and discarded outside the city in an unclean area. 41 The inside of the house will then be scraped on all sides, and the plaster that has been scraped off must be dumped outside the city in an unclean area. 42 Then different stones will be used in place of the first ones, and new coating will be used to replaster the house.
43 If the infection breaks out again in the house after the stones have been pulled out and the house scraped and replastered, 44 the priest will return. If he finds that the infection has spread throughout the house, it is a case of infectious skin disease in the house; the house is unclean. 45 The house must be destroyed—its stones, wood, and all the plaster in the house. All of it must be taken outside the city to an unclean area. 46 Anyone who enters the house during the entire period when it is quarantined will be unclean until evening. 47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash their clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must also wash their clothes.
48 But if the priest arrives and finds that the infection has not spread after the house was replastered, the priest will declare the house clean because the infection has been healed. 49 To cleanse the house, the priest will take two birds, cedarwood, crimson yarn, and hyssop. 50 He will slaughter one bird over fresh water in a pottery jar. 51 He will then take the cedarwood, hyssop, and crimson yarn, along with the wild[f] bird, and will dip all of this into the fresh water and into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered. He will then sprinkle the house seven times. 52 In this way, the priest will cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the wild bird, the cedarwood, the hyssop, and the crimson yarn. 53 Then he will release the wild bird outside the city into the countryside. In this way, he will make reconciliation for the house, and it will be clean.
Conclusion concerning skin disease
54 This concludes the Instruction concerning every infection of skin disease: for scabies, 55 for skin disease on clothing or in houses, 56 and for swelling, scabs, or shiny spots, 57 in order to determine when it is unclean or clean. This concludes the Instruction concerning skin disease.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 14:2 The precise meaning is uncertain; traditionally leprosy—a term used for several different skin diseases.
- Leviticus 14:4 Or live or healthy; also in 14:6-7
- Leviticus 14:10 Heb lacks ephah; an ephah is approximately twenty quarts dry.
- Leviticus 14:10 Heb log; two-thirds of a pint; also in 14:12, 15, 21, 24
- Leviticus 14:31 LXX, Syr; MT repeats whatever they can afford at the beginning of 14:31.
- Leviticus 14:51 Or live or healthy
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible