Law of Cleansing a Person with Leprosy

14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the person with leprosy on the day of his cleansing. (A)Now he shall be brought to the priest; and the priest shall go (B)out to a place outside of the camp. Then the priest shall look, and if the [a]leprous infection has been healed in the person with leprosy, then the priest shall give orders to take two live clean birds, (C)cedar wood, a [b]scarlet string, and hyssop for the one who is to be cleansed. The priest shall also give orders 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, the [d]scarlet string, and the (E)hyssop, and 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 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. And afterward he may enter the camp, but he (I)shall stay outside his tent for seven days. Then it shall 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 is to take two male lambs without defect, and a yearling ewe lamb without defect, and three-tenths of an [g]ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one [h](K)log of oil; 11 and the priest who is going to pronounce him clean shall present the person to be cleansed and [i]the offerings before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 12 Then the priest shall take the one male lamb and bring it as a (L)guilt offering, with the [j](M)log of oil, and present them as a (N)wave offering before the Lord. 13 Next he shall slaughter the male lamb in (O)the place where they slaughter the [k]sin offering and the burnt offering, at the place of the sanctuary—for the guilt offering, (P)like the [l]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 [m](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 the Lord. 17 Of the remaining oil which is in his palm, the priest shall (T)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 as for the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm, he shall put it on the head of the one to be cleansed. So the priest shall make (U)atonement on his behalf before the Lord. 19 The priest shall next offer the [n](V)sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Then afterward, he shall slaughter the burnt offering. 20 The priest shall offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and (W)he will be clean.

21 (X)But if he is poor and his [o]means are insufficient, then he is to take one male lamb for a (Y)guilt offering as a wave offering to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an [p]ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and a [q](Z)log of oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two young doves, which [r]are within his means. (AA)The one shall be a [s](AB)sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. 23 (AC)Then on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. 24 The priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and (AD)the [t]log of oil, and the priest shall offer them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Next he shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on (AE)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 the Lord. 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 the Lord. 30 He shall then offer one of the turtledoves or young doves, [u]which are within his means. 31 He shall offer what [v]he can afford, (AF)the one as a [w]sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed. 32 This is the law for him in whom there is an infection of leprosy, whose [x]means are limited for his cleansing.”

Cleansing a Leprous House

33 The Lord further spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

34 (AG)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 (AH)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 [y]surface, 38 the priest shall come out of the house, to the [z]doorway, and [aa]quarantine the house for seven days. 39 Then the priest shall return on the seventh day and [ab]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 [ac]at an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall have the house scraped all around [ad]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 [ae]make an inspection. If he sees that the spot has indeed spread in the house, it is (AI)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 (AJ)unclean place. 46 Moreover, whoever goes into the house during the time that he has [af]quarantined it, becomes (AK)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 [ag]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 [ah]not reappeared. 49 To cleanse the house then, he shall take (AL)two birds, cedar wood, a [ai]scarlet string, and hyssop, 50 and he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over [aj]running water. 51 Then he shall take the cedar wood, the (AM)hyssop, and the [ak]scarlet string, with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird as well as in the [al]running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 So he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the [am]running water, along with the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the [an]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 (AN)scale, 55 and for the (AO)leprous garment or house, 56 and (AP)for a swelling, for a scab, and for a bright spot— 57 to teach [ao]when they are unclean and [ap]when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 14:3 I.e., or a serious, unspecified disease, and so throughout the 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 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  8. Leviticus 14:10 About 0.6 pt. or 0.3 liter
  9. Leviticus 14:11 Lit them
  10. Leviticus 14:12 About 0.6 pt. or 0.3 liter
  11. Leviticus 14:13 Or purification offering
  12. Leviticus 14:13 Or purification offering
  13. Leviticus 14:15 About 0.6 pt. or 0.3 liter
  14. Leviticus 14:19 Or purification offering
  15. Leviticus 14:21 Lit hand is not reaching
  16. Leviticus 14:21 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  17. Leviticus 14:21 About 0.6 pt. or 0.3 liter
  18. Leviticus 14:22 Lit his hand reaches
  19. Leviticus 14:22 Or purification offering
  20. Leviticus 14:24 About 0.6 pt. or 0.3 liter
  21. Leviticus 14:30 Lit from which his hand reaches
  22. Leviticus 14:31 Lit his hand reaches
  23. Leviticus 14:31 Or purification offering
  24. Leviticus 14:32 Lit hand does not reach
  25. Leviticus 14:37 Lit wall
  26. Leviticus 14:38 Lit doorway of the house
  27. Leviticus 14:38 Lit separate
  28. Leviticus 14:39 Lit look
  29. Leviticus 14:40 Lit to
  30. Leviticus 14:41 Lit from the house
  31. Leviticus 14:44 Lit look
  32. Leviticus 14:46 Lit separated
  33. Leviticus 14:48 Lit looks
  34. Leviticus 14:48 Lit healed
  35. Leviticus 14:49 Lit scarlet color
  36. Leviticus 14:50 Lit living
  37. Leviticus 14:51 Lit scarlet color
  38. Leviticus 14:51 Lit living
  39. Leviticus 14:52 Lit living
  40. Leviticus 14:52 Lit scarlet color
  41. Leviticus 14:57 Lit on the day of uncleanness
  42. Leviticus 14:57 Lit on the day of cleanness

Cleansing of Skin Diseases

14 The Lord spoke to Moses: “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) who will go outside the camp(D) and examine him.(E) If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person,[a] 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. Then the priest will order that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot. 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. 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) 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. 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

  1. Leviticus 14:3 Lit the person afflicted with skin disease
  2. Leviticus 14:10 Lit three-tenths; probably 3⁄10 of an ephah
  3. Leviticus 14:10 Lit one log
  4. Leviticus 14:12 Lit one log
  5. Leviticus 14:15 Lit one log
  6. Leviticus 14:21 Lit and his hand is not
  7. Leviticus 14:21 Lit him, and one-tenth; probably 1⁄10 of an ephah
  8. Leviticus 14:21 Lit one log
  9. Leviticus 14:22 Lit pigeons, for which his hand is sufficient
  10. Leviticus 14:24 Lit one log
  11. Leviticus 14:30 Lit of that for which his hand is sufficient
  12. Leviticus 14:31 LXX, Syr, Vg omit what he can afford
  13. Leviticus 14:31 Lit [sacrificing] that for which his hand is sufficient
  14. Leviticus 14:32 Lit someone on whom there is
  15. Leviticus 14:32 Lit disease whose hand is not sufficient for
  16. Leviticus 14:34 Lit land of your possession
  17. Leviticus 14:35 Lit appeared to me
  18. Leviticus 14:37 Or eruptions; Hb obscure
  19. Leviticus 14:41 Lit dust
  20. Leviticus 14:42 Lit dust
  21. Leviticus 14:48 Lit healed
  22. Leviticus 14:54 Or for a scall