Parashah 28: M’tzora (Person afflicted with tzara‘at) 14:1–15:33

[In regular years read with Parashah 27, in leap years read separately]

14 Adonai said to Moshe, ² “This is to be the law concerning the person afflicted with tzara‘at on the day of his purification. He is to be brought to the cohen, ³ and the cohen is to go outside the camp and examine him there. If he sees that the tzara‘at sores have been healed in the afflicted person, ⁴ then the cohen will order that two living clean birds be taken for the one to be purified, along with cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. ⁵ The cohen is to order one of the birds slaughtered in a clay pot over running water. ⁶ As for the live bird, he is to take it with the cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over running water, ⁷ and sprinkle the person to be purified from the tzara‘at seven times. Next he is to set the live bird free in an open field. ⁸ He who is to be purified must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water. Then he will be clean; and after that, he may enter the camp; but he must live outside his tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day he is to shave all the hair off his head, also his beard and eyebrows — he must shave off all his hair; and he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and he will be clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day he is to take two male lambs without defect, one female lamb in its first year without defect and six-and-a-half quarts of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and two-thirds of a pint of olive oil. ¹¹ The cohen purifying him is to place the person being purified with these items before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹² The cohen is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering with the two-thirds-pint of olive oil, then wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. (LY: ii) ¹³ He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary for slaughtering sin offerings and burnt offerings, because the guilt offering belongs to the cohen, just like the sin offering; it is especially holy. ¹⁴ The cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵ Next, the cohen is to take some of the two-thirds-pint of olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶ dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before Adonai. ¹⁷ Then the cohen is to put some of the remaining oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot and on the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸ Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified; and the cohen will make atonement for him before Adonai. ¹⁹ The cohen is to offer the sin offering and make atonement for the person being purified because of his uncleanness; afterwards, he is to slaughter the burnt offering. ²⁰ The cohen is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar; thus the cohen will make atonement for him; and he will be clean.

(RY: v, LY: iii) ²¹ “If he is poor, so that he can’t afford to do otherwise, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him; two quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; two-thirds of a pint of olive oil; ²² and two doves or two young pigeons, such as he can afford, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ²³ On the eighth day, he will bring them to the cohen for his purification, to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Adonai. ²⁴ The cohen is to take the lamb of the guilt offering and the two-thirds of a pint of olive oil and wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. ²⁵ He is to slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶ The cohen is to take some of the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷ and sprinkle with his right hand some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Adonai. ²⁸ The cohen is to put some of the oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot — in the same place as the blood of the guilt offering. ²⁹ Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified, to make atonement for him before Adonai. ³⁰ He is to offer one of the doves or young pigeons, such as the person can afford, ³¹ whatever his means suffice for — the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering — with the grain offering; thus the cohen will make atonement before Adonai for the person being purified. ³² Such is the law for the person who has tzara‘at sores if he cannot afford the usual elements used for his purification.”

(RY: vi, LY: iv) ³³ Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ³⁴ “When you have entered the land of Kena‘an which I am giving you as a possession, and I put an infection of tzara‘at in a house in the land that you possess, ³⁵ then the owner of the house is to come and tell the cohen, ‘It seems to me that there may be an infection in the house.’ ³⁶ The cohen is to order the house emptied before he goes in to inspect the infection, so that everything in the house won’t be made unclean; afterwards, the cohen is to enter and inspect the house. ³⁷ He will examine the infection; and if he sees that the infection is in the walls of the house, with greenish or reddish depressions that seem to go in deeper than the surface of the wall, ³⁸ he is to go out of the house to its door and seal up the house for seven days. ³⁹ The cohen will come again on the seventh day and examine the house; if he sees that the infection has spread over its walls, ⁴⁰ he is to order them to remove the infected stones and throw them into some unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹ Next, he is to have the inside of the house thoroughly scraped, and the scraped-off plaster is to be discarded outside the city in an unclean place. ⁴² Finally, other stones must be set in the place of the first stones and other plaster used to replaster the house. ⁴³ If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after the stones have been removed and the house scraped and plastered; ⁴⁴ then the cohen is to enter and examine it. If he sees that the infection has spread in the house, it is a contagious tzara‘at in the house; it is unclean. ⁴⁵ He must break down the house and take its stones, timber and plaster out of the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶ Moreover, whoever enters the house at any time while it is sealed up will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁷ Whoever lies down or eats in the house must wash his clothes. ⁴⁸ If the cohen enters, examines and sees that the infection has not spread in the house since it was plastered; then he is to declare the house clean; because the infection is cured.

⁴⁹ “To purify the house, he is to take two birds, cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. ⁵⁰ He is to slaughter one of the birds in a clay pot over running water. ⁵¹ He is to take the cedar-wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the running water, the live bird, the cedar-wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. ⁵³ But he is to set the live bird free outside the city in an open field; thus will he make atonement for the house; and it will be clean.

(LY: v) ⁵⁴ “Such is the law for all kinds of tzara‘at sores, for a crusted area, ⁵⁵ for tzara‘at in a garment, for a house, ⁵⁶ for a swelling, for a scab and for a bright spot, ⁵⁷ to determine when it is clean and when it is unclean. This is the law concerning tzara‘at.”

15 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ² “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, the discharge is unclean. ³ The discharge is unclean no matter whether it continues flowing or has stopped; it is still his uncleanness. ⁴ Every bed which the person with the discharge lies on is unclean, and everything he sits on is unclean. ⁵ Whoever touches his bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ⁶ Whoever sits on anything the person with the discharge sat on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ⁷ Anyone who touches the body of the person with the discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ⁸ If the person with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, the latter is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ⁹ Any saddle that the person with the discharge rides on will be unclean. ¹⁰ Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening; he who carries those things is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ¹¹ If the person with the discharge fails to rinse his hands in water before touching someone, that person is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ¹² If the person with the discharge touches a clay pot, it must be broken; if he touches a wooden utensil, it must be rinsed in water.

¹³ “‘When a person with a discharge has become free of it, he is to count seven days for his purification. Then he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water; after that, he will be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day, he is to take for himself two doves or two young pigeons, come before Adonai to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the cohen. ¹⁵ The cohen is to offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the cohen will make atonement for him on account of his discharge before Adonai.

(RY: vii, LY: vi) ¹⁶ “‘If a man has a seminal emission, he is to bathe his entire body in water; he will be unclean until evening. ¹⁷ Any clothing or leather on which there is any semen is to be washed with water; it will be unclean until evening. ¹⁸ If a man goes to bed with a woman and has sexual relations, both are to bathe themselves in water; they will be unclean until evening.

¹⁹ “‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she will be in her state of niddah for seven days. Whoever touches her will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Everything she lies on or sits on in her state of niddah will be unclean. ²¹ Whoever touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ²² Whoever touches anything she sits on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. ²³ Whether he is on the bed or on something she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until evening. ²⁴ If a man goes to bed with her, and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on will be unclean.

²⁵ “‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days not during her period, or if her discharge lasts beyond the normal end of her period, then throughout the time she is having an unclean discharge she will be as when she is in niddah — she is unclean. ²⁶ Every bed she lies on at any time while she is having her discharge will be for her like the bed she uses during her time of niddah; and everything she sits on will be unclean with uncleanness like that of her time of niddah. ²⁷ Whoever touches those things will be unclean; he is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening.

²⁸ “‘If she has become free of her discharge, she is to count seven days; after that, she will be clean. (LY: vii) ²⁹ On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the cohen at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ³⁰ The cohen is to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the cohen will make atonement for her before Adonai on account of her unclean discharge.

(Maftir) ³¹ “‘In this way you will separate the people of Isra’el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling my tabernacle which is there with them.

³² “‘Such is the law for the person who has a discharge; for the man who has a seminal emission that makes him unclean; ³³ for the woman in niddah during her menstrual period; for the person, man or woman, with a discharge; and for the man who has sexual relations with a woman who is unclean.

Haftarah M’tzora: M’lakhim Bet (2 Kings) 7:3–20

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah M’tzora: Mattityahu (Matthew) 9:20–26; Mark 5:24b–34; Luke 8:42b– 48; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 13:4