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
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Cleansing of Skin Diseases
14 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “This is the law(A) concerning the person afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing.(B) He is to be brought to the priest,(C) 3 who will go outside the camp(D) and examine him.(E) If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person,[a] 4 the priest will order that two live clean birds,(F) cedar wood,(G) scarlet(H) yarn, and hyssop(I) be brought for the one who is to be cleansed. 5 Then the priest will order that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot. 6 He is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them all into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 7 He will then sprinkle the blood seven times on the one who is to be cleansed from the skin disease. He is to pronounce him clean and release the live bird over the open countryside.(J) 8 The one who is to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; he is clean. Afterward he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days. 9 He is to shave off all his hair again on the seventh day: his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; he is clean.
10 “On the eighth day he must take two unblemished(K) male lambs, an unblemished year-old ewe lamb, a grain offering of three quarts[b] of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one-third of a quart[c] of olive oil. 11 The priest who performs the cleansing will place the person who is to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 12 The priest is to take one male lamb and present it as a restitution offering,(L) along with the one-third quart[d] of olive oil, and he must wave them as a presentation offering(M) before the Lord. 13 He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary area where the sin offering(N) and burnt offering(O) are slaughtered,(P) for like the sin offering, the restitution offering belongs to the priest;(Q) it is especially holy.(R) 14 The priest is to take some of the blood from the restitution offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.(S) 15 Then the priest will take some of the one-third quart[e] of olive oil and pour it into his left palm. 16 The priest will dip his right finger into the oil in his left palm and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 From the oil remaining in his palm the priest will put some on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the restitution offering.(T) 18 What is left of the oil in the priest’s palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord. 19 The priest must sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness.(U) Afterward he will slaughter the burnt offering. 20 The priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. The priest will make atonement for him, and he will be clean.(V)
21 “But if he is poor(W) and cannot afford these,[f](X) he is to take one male lamb for a restitution offering to be waved in order to make atonement for him, along with two quarts[g] of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, one-third of a quart[h] of olive oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whatever he can afford,[i] one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 On the eighth day he is to bring these things for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord. 24 The priest will take the male lamb for the restitution offering and the one-third quart[j] of olive oil, and wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord. 25 After he slaughters the male lamb for the restitution offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the restitution offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 Then the priest will pour some of the oil into his left palm. 27 With his right finger the priest will sprinkle some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the Lord. 28 The priest will also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the same place as the blood of the restitution offering. 29 What is left of the oil in the priest’s palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord.(Y) 30 He must then sacrifice one type of what he can afford,[k] either the turtledoves or young pigeons, 31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, sacrificing what he can afford[l][m] together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord for the one to be cleansed. 32 This is the law for someone who has[n] a skin disease and cannot afford[o] the cost of his cleansing.”
Cleansing of Contaminated Objects
33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 34 “When you enter the land of Canaan(Z) that I am giving you as a possession,(AA) and I place a mildew contamination in a house in the land you possess,[p] 35 the owner of the house is to come and tell the priest: Something like mildew contamination has appeared[q] in my house. 36 The priest must order them to clear the house before he enters to examine the contamination, so that nothing in the house becomes unclean. Afterward the priest will come to examine the house. 37 He will examine it, and if the contamination in the walls of the house consists of green or red indentations[r] that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall, 38 the priest is to go outside the house to its doorway and quarantine the house for seven days. 39 The priest is to return on the seventh day and examine it. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house, 40 the priest must order that the stones with the contamination be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. 41 He is to have the inside of the house completely scraped, and the plaster[s] that is scraped off must be dumped in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they must take different stones to replace the former ones and take additional plaster[t] to replaster the house.
43 “If the contamination reappears in the house after the stones have been pulled out, and after the house has been scraped and replastered, 44 the priest must come and examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is harmful mildew; the house is unclean. 45 It must be torn down with its stones, its beams, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place. 46 Whoever enters the house during any of the days the priest quarantines it will be unclean until evening. 47 Whoever lies down in the house is to wash his clothes, and whoever eats in it is to wash his clothes.
48 “But when the priest comes and examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the house after it was replastered, he is to pronounce the house clean because the contamination has disappeared.[u] 49 He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house, 50 and he is to slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot containing fresh water. 51 He will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. 53 Then he is to release the live bird into the open countryside(AB) outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.
54 “This is the law for any skin disease or mildew, for a scaly outbreak,[v] 55 for mildew in clothing or on a house, 56 and for a swelling, scab, or spot, 57 to determine when something is unclean or clean. This is the law regarding skin disease and mildew.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 14:3 Lit the person afflicted with skin disease
- Leviticus 14:10 Lit three-tenths; probably 3⁄10 of an ephah
- Leviticus 14:10 Lit one log
- Leviticus 14:12 Lit one log
- Leviticus 14:15 Lit one log
- Leviticus 14:21 Lit and his hand is not
- Leviticus 14:21 Lit him, and one-tenth; probably 1⁄10 of an ephah
- Leviticus 14:21 Lit one log
- Leviticus 14:22 Lit pigeons, for which his hand is sufficient
- Leviticus 14:24 Lit one log
- Leviticus 14:30 Lit of that for which his hand is sufficient
- Leviticus 14:31 LXX, Syr, Vg omit what he can afford
- Leviticus 14:31 Lit [sacrificing] that for which his hand is sufficient
- Leviticus 14:32 Lit someone on whom there is
- Leviticus 14:32 Lit disease whose hand is not sufficient for
- Leviticus 14:34 Lit land of your possession
- Leviticus 14:35 Lit appeared to me
- Leviticus 14:37 Or eruptions; Hb obscure
- Leviticus 14:41 Lit dust
- Leviticus 14:42 Lit dust
- Leviticus 14:48 Lit healed
- Leviticus 14:54 Or for a scall
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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