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Statutes for Cleansing a Leper

14 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. (A)Now he shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go (B)out to the outside of the camp. Thus the priest shall look, and if the [a]infection of leprosy has been healed in the leper, then the priest shall give a command to take two live clean birds and (C)cedar wood and a [b]scarlet string and hyssop for the one who is to be cleansed. The priest shall also give a command to slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over [c]running water. As for the live bird, he shall take it together with (D)the cedar wood and the [d]scarlet string and the (E)hyssop, and he shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the [e]running water. (F)He shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce him clean, and he shall let the live bird go free over the open field. (G)The one to be cleansed shall then wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe in water and (H)be clean. Now afterward, he may enter the camp, but he (I)shall stay outside his tent for seven days. And it will be on the seventh day that he shall shave off all his hair: he shall shave his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair. He shall then wash his clothes and bathe his [f]body in water and (J)be clean.

10 “Now on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and a yearling ewe lamb without blemish, and three-tenths of an [g]ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and one [h](K)log of oil; 11 and the priest who pronounces him clean shall present the man to be cleansed as well as [i]these things before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 12 Then the priest shall take the one male lamb and bring it near for a (L)guilt offering, with the [j](M)log of oil, and wave them as a (N)wave offering before Yahweh. 13 Next he shall slaughter the male lamb in (O)the place where they slaughter the sin offering and the burnt offering, at the place of the sanctuary—for the guilt offering, (P)like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14 The priest shall then take some of the blood of the (Q)guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on (R)the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 The priest shall also take some of the [k](S)log of oil and pour it into his left palm; 16 the priest shall then dip his right-hand finger into the oil that is in his left palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of the oil seven times before Yahweh. 17 Of the remaining oil which is in his palm, the priest shall put some on the right ear lobe of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering; 18 but the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm, he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed. So the priest shall make (T)atonement on his behalf before Yahweh. 19 The priest shall next offer the (U)sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Then afterward, he shall slaughter the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and (V)he will be clean.

21 (W)But if he is poor and his [l]means are insufficient, then he is to take one male lamb for a (X)guilt offering as a wave offering to make atonement for him, and one-tenth of an [m]ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a [n](Y)log of oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons which [o]are within his means, (Z)the one shall be a (AA)sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 (AB)Then the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, before Yahweh. 24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and (AC)the [p]log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh. 25 Next he shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on (AD)the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 The priest shall also pour some of the oil into his left palm; 27 and with his right-hand finger the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil that is in his left palm seven times before Yahweh. 28 The priest shall then put some of the oil that is in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering. 29 Moreover, the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement on his behalf before Yahweh. 30 He shall then offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, [q]which are within his means. 31 He shall offer what [r]he can afford, (AE)the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement before Yahweh on behalf of the one to be cleansed. 32 This is the law for him in whom there is an infection of leprosy, whose [s]means are limited for his cleansing.”

Statute for Cleansing a Leprous House

33 Yahweh further spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

34 (AF)When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you for a possession, and I put a mark 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 (AG)a mark 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 mark, 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 mark, and if the mark on the walls of the house has greenish or reddish depressions and appears deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 then the priest shall come out of the house, to the [t]doorway, and [u]put the house under isolation for seven days. 39 And the priest shall return on the seventh day and look again. If the mark has indeed spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command them to tear out the stones with the mark in them and throw them away [v]at an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall have the house scraped all around [w]inside, and they shall pour out the plaster that they scrape off at an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they shall take other stones and replace those stones, and he shall take other plaster and replaster the house.

43 “If, however, the mark breaks out again in the house after he has torn out the stones and scraped the house, and after it has been replastered, 44 then the priest shall come in and look again. If he sees that the mark has indeed spread in the house, it is (AH)a [x]leprous malignancy in the house; it is unclean. 45 He shall therefore tear down the house, its stones and its timbers and all the plaster of the house, and he shall take them outside the city to an (AI)unclean place. 46 Moreover, whoever goes into the house during the time that he has [y]put it under isolation becomes (AJ)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 looks again, and the mark has not indeed spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean because the mark has [z]not reappeared. 49 To cleanse the house then, he shall take (AK)two birds and cedar wood and a [aa]scarlet string and hyssop, 50 and he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over [ab]running water. 51 Then he shall take the cedar wood and the (AL)hyssop and the [ac]scarlet string, with the live bird, and he shall dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird as well as in the [ad]running water, and he shall sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He shall thus cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the [ae]running water, along with the live bird and with the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the [af]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 mark of leprosy—even for a (AM)scale, 55 and for the (AN)leprous garment or house, 56 and (AO)for a swelling and for a scab and for a bright spot— 57 to instruct [ag]when they are unclean and [ah]when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 14:3 Lit mark, stroke; so in ch
  2. Leviticus 14:4 Lit scarlet color and
  3. Leviticus 14:5 Lit living
  4. Leviticus 14:6 Lit scarlet color and
  5. Leviticus 14:6 Lit living
  6. Leviticus 14:9 Lit flesh
  7. Leviticus 14:10 Approx. 6.3 qt. or 6.9 l, an ephah was approx. 21 qt. or 23 l
  8. Leviticus 14:10 A log was approx. 10 oz. or 300 ml
  9. Leviticus 14:11 Lit them
  10. Leviticus 14:12 A log was approx. 10 oz. or 300 ml
  11. Leviticus 14:15 A log was approx. 10 oz. or 300 ml
  12. Leviticus 14:21 Lit hand is not reaching
  13. Leviticus 14:21 An ephah was approx. 21 qt. or 23 l
  14. Leviticus 14:21 A log was approx. 10 oz. or 300 ml
  15. Leviticus 14:22 Lit his hand reaches
  16. Leviticus 14:24 A log was approx. 10 oz. or 300 ml
  17. Leviticus 14:30 Lit from those which his hand can reach
  18. Leviticus 14:31 Lit his hand can reach
  19. Leviticus 14:32 Lit hand does not reach
  20. Leviticus 14:38 Lit doorway of the house
  21. Leviticus 14:38 Lit shut up
  22. Leviticus 14:40 Lit to
  23. Leviticus 14:41 Lit from the house around
  24. Leviticus 14:44 Lit malignant leprosy
  25. Leviticus 14:46 Lit shut up
  26. Leviticus 14:48 Lit healed
  27. Leviticus 14:49 Lit scarlet color
  28. Leviticus 14:50 Lit living
  29. Leviticus 14:51 Lit scarlet color
  30. Leviticus 14:51 Lit living
  31. Leviticus 14:52 Lit living
  32. Leviticus 14:52 Lit scarlet color
  33. Leviticus 14:57 Lit in the day of uncleanness
  34. Leviticus 14:57 Lit in the day of cleanness

The Ritual for Cleansing Healed Lepers(A)

14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the [a]leper for the day of his cleansing: He (B)shall be brought to the priest. And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the [b]leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, (C)cedar wood, (D)scarlet, and (E)hyssop. And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he shall (F)sprinkle it (G)seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. He who is to be cleansed (H)shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and (I)wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, and (J)shall stay outside his tent seven days. But on the (K)seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows—all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.

10 “And on the eighth day (L)he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as (M)a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one male lamb and (N)offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and (O)wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 13 Then he shall kill the lamb (P)in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for (Q)as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. (R)It is most holy. 14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it (S)on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall (T)sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. 18 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. (U)So the priest shall make [c]atonement for him before the Lord.

19 “Then the priest shall offer (V)the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be (W)clean.

21 “But (X)if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, [d]one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil, 22 (Y)and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 (Z)He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before the Lord. 24 (AA)And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, (AB)and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, 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 Then the priest 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 tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. 29 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 one of (AC)the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can afford— 31 such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord. 32 This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford (AD)the usual cleansing.”

The Law Concerning Leprous Houses

33 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 34 (AE)“When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and (AF)I put the [e]leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession, 35 and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, ‘It seems to me that there is (AG)some plague in the house,’ 36 then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house. 37 And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be [f]deep in the wall, 38 then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and [g]shut up the house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all around, and the dust 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 mortar and plaster the house.

43 “Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered, 44 then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is (AH)an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place. 46 Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be [h]unclean (AI)until evening. 47 And he who lies down in the house shall (AJ)wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

48 “But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. 49 And (AK)he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 50 Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water; 51 and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 And he shall [i]cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet. 53 Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and (AL)make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.

54 “This is the law for any (AM)leprous sore and scale, 55 for the (AN)leprosy of a garment (AO)and of a house, 56 (AP)for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot, 57 to (AQ)teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 14:2 See note at 13:2
  2. Leviticus 14:3 Heb. saraath, disfiguring skin diseases, including leprosy, and so in vv. 2–32
  3. Leviticus 14:18 Lit. covering
  4. Leviticus 14:21 Approximately two dry quarts
  5. Leviticus 14:34 Decomposition by mildew, mold, dry rot, etc., and so in vv. 34–53
  6. Leviticus 14:37 Lit. lower than the wall
  7. Leviticus 14:38 quarantine
  8. Leviticus 14:46 defiled
  9. Leviticus 14:52 ceremonially cleanse