Leviticus 13:1-14:20

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

Leprosy: Varieties and Symptoms

13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

² When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a leprous^[a] disease on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. ³ The priest shall examine the disease on the skin of his body, and if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous^[b] disease; after the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean. ⁴ But if the spot is white in the skin of his body, and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall confine the diseased person for seven days. ⁵ The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if he sees that the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall confine him for seven days more. ⁶ The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the disease has abated and the disease has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ⁷ But if the eruption spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. ⁸ The priest shall make an examination, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous^[c] disease.

⁹ When a person contracts a leprous^[d] disease, he shall be brought to the priest. ¹⁰ The priest shall make an examination, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is quick raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ it is a chronic leprous^[e] disease in the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not confine him, for he is unclean. ¹² But if the disease breaks out in the skin, so that it covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, ¹³ then the priest shall make an examination, and if the disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; since it has all turned white, he is clean. ¹⁴ But if raw flesh ever appears on him, he shall be unclean; ¹⁵ the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous^[f] disease. ¹⁶ But if the raw flesh again turns white, he shall come to the priest; ¹⁷ the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean. He is clean.

¹⁸ When there is on the skin of one’s body a boil that has healed, ¹⁹ and in the place of the boil there appears a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, it shall be shown to the priest. ²⁰ The priest shall make an examination, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; this is a leprous^[g] disease, broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest examines it and the hair on it is not white, nor is it deeper than the skin but has abated, the priest shall confine him for seven days. ²² If it spreads in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is diseased. ²³ But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil; the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴ Or, when the body has a burn on the skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, ²⁵ the priest shall examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, it is a leprous^[h] disease; it has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a leprous^[i] disease. ²⁶ But if the priest examines it and the hair in the spot is not white, and it is no deeper than the skin but has abated, the priest shall confine him for seven days. ²⁷ The priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a leprous^[j] disease. ²⁸ But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin but has abated, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar of the burn.

²⁹ When a man or woman has a disease on the head or in the beard, ³⁰ the priest shall examine the disease. If it appears deeper than the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an itch, a leprous^[k] disease of the head or the beard. ³¹ If the priest examines the itching disease, and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall confine the person with the itching disease for seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch; if the itch has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, ³³ he shall shave, but the itch he shall not shave. The priest shall confine the person with the itch for seven days more. ³⁴ On the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch; if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵ But if the itch spreads in the skin after he was pronounced clean, ³⁶ the priest shall examine him. If the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷ But if in his eyes the itch is checked, and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed, he is clean; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸ When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, ³⁹ the priest shall make an examination, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰ If anyone loses the hair from his head, he is bald but he is clean. ⁴¹ If he loses the hair from his forehead and temples, he has baldness of the forehead but he is clean. ⁴² But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased spot, it is a leprous^[l] disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³ The priest shall examine him; if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, which resembles a leprous^[m] disease in the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he is leprous,^[n] he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; the disease is on his head.

⁴⁵ The person who has the leprous^[o] disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be dishevelled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ ⁴⁶ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

⁴⁷ Concerning clothing: when a leprous^[p] disease appears in it, in woollen or linen cloth, ⁴⁸ in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, ⁴⁹ if the disease shows greenish or reddish in the garment, whether in warp or woof or in skin or in anything made of skin, it is a leprous^[q] disease and shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ The priest shall examine the disease, and put the diseased article aside for seven days. ⁵¹ He shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the cloth, in warp or woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, this is a spreading leprous^[r] disease; it is unclean. ⁵² He shall burn the clothing, whether diseased in warp or woof, woollen or linen, or anything of skin, for it is a spreading leprous^[s] disease; it shall be burned in fire.

⁵³ If the priest makes an examination, and the disease has not spread in the clothing, in warp or woof or in anything of skin, ⁵⁴ the priest shall command them to wash the article in which the disease appears, and he shall put it aside for seven days more. ⁵⁵ The priest shall examine the diseased article after it has been washed. If the diseased spot has not changed colour, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in fire, whether the leprous^[t] spot is on the inside or on the outside.

⁵⁶ If the priest makes an examination, and the disease has abated after it is washed, he shall tear the spot out of the cloth, in warp or woof, or out of skin. ⁵⁷ If it appears again in the garment, in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading; you shall burn with fire that in which the disease appears. ⁵⁸ But the cloth, warp or woof, or anything of skin from which the disease disappears when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and it shall be clean.

⁵⁹ This is the ritual for a leprous^[u] disease in a cloth of wool or linen, either in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, to decide whether it is clean or unclean.

Purification of Lepers and Leprous Houses

14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² This shall be the ritual for the leprous^[v] person at the time of his cleansing:

He shall be brought to the priest; ³ the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination. If the disease is healed in the leprous^[w] person, ⁴ the priest shall command that two living clean birds and cedar wood and crimson yarn and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed. ⁵ The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in an earthen vessel. ⁶ He shall take the living bird with the cedar wood and the crimson yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. ⁷ He shall sprinkle it seven times upon the one who is to be cleansed of the leprous^[x] disease; then he shall pronounce him clean, and he shall let the living bird go into the open field. ⁸ The one who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall live outside his tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day he shall shave all his hair: of head, beard, eyebrows; he shall shave all his hair. Then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁰ On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, and a grain-offering of three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, and one log^[y] of oil. ¹¹ The priest who cleanses shall set the person to be cleansed, along with these things, before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹² The priest shall take one of the lambs, and offer it as a guilt-offering, along with the log^[z] of oil, and raise them as an elevation-offering before the Lord. ¹³ He shall slaughter the lamb in the place where the sin-offering and the burnt-offering are slaughtered in the holy place; for the guilt-offering, like the sin-offering, belongs to the priest: it is most holy. ¹⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt-offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. ¹⁵ The priest shall take some of the log^[aa] 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 Some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt-offering. ¹⁸ The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord: ¹⁹ the priest shall offer the sin-offering, to make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterwards he shall slaughter the burnt-offering; ²⁰ and the priest shall offer the burnt-offering and the grain-offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf and he shall be clean.