Laws About Leprosy

13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “When a person has on the skin of his body a (A)swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous[a] disease on the skin of his body, (B)then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, and the priest shall examine the diseased area 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 case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. 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, (C)the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the (D)priest shall shut him up for another seven days. And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And (E)he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 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. And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.

“When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, 10 and the priest shall look. And if there is a (F)white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. (G)He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. 12 And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, 13 then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. 14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. 16 But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, 17 and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.

18 “If there is in the skin of one's body a (H)boil and it heals, 19 and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a (I)reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. 20 And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. 21 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. 22 And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. 23 But (J)if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

24 “Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, (K)reddish-white or white, 25 the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 26 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days, 27 and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 28 But if the spot remains (L)in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, 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 the beard, 30 the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. 31 And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days, 32 and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, 33 then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. 34 And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And (M)he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35 But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, 36 then the priest shall examine him, and 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 unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and 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 look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean.

40 “If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. 41 And if a man's hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. 42 But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.

45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and (N)let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall (O)cover his upper lip[b] and cry out, (P)‘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 (Q)outside the camp.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 13:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases
  2. Leviticus 13:45 Or mustache

Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases

13 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “When a person[b] has on his body’s skin a swelling or an epidermal eruption or a spot and it becomes[c] an infectious skin disease on his body’s skin, then[d] he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. And the priest shall examine the infection on his body’s skin, and if the hair in the infection turns white and the appearance of the infection is deeper than his body’s skin, it is an infectious skin disease, and the priest shall examine it, and he shall declare him unclean. But[e] if a spot is white on his body’s skin and its appearance is not deeper than the skin and its hair does not turn white, then[f] the priest shall confine the afflicted person for seven days. And the priest shall examine it on the seventh day, and if,[g] in his eyes, the infection has stayed unchanged, the infection has not spread on the skin, then[h] the priest shall confine him for seven days a second time. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day for a second time, and if[i] the infection has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then[j] the priest shall declare him clean—it is an epidermal eruption; and he shall wash his garments, and so he shall be clean. But[k] if the epidermal eruption spreads further on the skin after showing himself to the priest for his cleansing, then[l] he shall appear a second time to the priest. And the priest shall examine it,[m] and if[n] the epidermal eruption has spread on the skin, then[o] the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease.

“When an infectious skin disease is on a person and he is brought to the priest, 10 the priest shall examine it,[p] and if[q] a white swelling is on the skin and it turns the hair white and raw flesh[r] is in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic infectious skin disease on his body’s skin, and the priest shall declare him unclean; he shall not confine him, because he is unclean. 12 And if the infectious skin disease breaks out all over on the skin and the infectious skin disease covers all of the afflicted person’s skin from his head to his feed, so far as the priest can see,[s] 13 then[t] the priest shall examine it,[u] and if[v] the infectious skin disease covers his whole body, then[w] he shall pronounce the afflicted person clean—all of it has turned white; he is clean. 14 But[x] whenever[y] raw flesh[z] appears on him, he shall become unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh,[aa] and he shall pronounce him unclean—the raw flesh[ab] is unclean; it is an infectious skin disease. 16 Or, when the raw flesh[ac] returns and it has changed to white, then[ad] he shall come to the priest, 17 and the priest shall examine him, and if[ae] the infection has changed to white, then[af] the priest shall pronounce the afflicted person clean—he is clean.

18 “And when someone’s body has[ag] a skin sore on his skin and it is healed 19 and a white swelling or a pinkish[ah] spot appears in the skin sore’s place, then[ai] he shall show himself to the priest. 20 And the priest shall examine it,[aj] and if[ak] its appearance is deeper than the skin and its hair has changed to white, then[al] the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease; it has broken out in the skin sore. 21 And if the priest examines it and if[am] there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin and it is faded, then[an] the priest shall confine him for seven days. 22 But[ao] if it has spread further on the skin, then[ap] the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infection. 23 But[aq] if the spot has stayed unchanged, it has not spread, it is the skin sore’s scar, so[ar] the priest shall declare him clean.

24 “Or when a body has[as] a burn-spot from[at] fire on its skin and the raw flesh[au] of the burn-spot is pinkish[av] or white, 25 then[aw] the priest shall examine it, and if[ax] the hair turns white in the spot and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it is an infectious skin disease—it has broken out in the burn-spot; so[ay] the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease. 26 But[az] if the priest examines it and if[ba] there is not white hair in the spot and it is not deeper than the skin and it is faded, then[bb] the priest shall confine him for seven days. 27 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if it has spread further on the skin, then[bc] the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease. 28 But[bd] if it the spot has stayed unchanged in its place, it has not spread on the skin and it is faded, then it is the burn-spot’s swelling, so[be] the priest shall declare him clean, because it is the burn-spot’s scar.

29 “And when a man or a woman has[bf] an infection on the head or in the beard, 30 then[bg] the priest shall examine the infection, and if[bh] its appearance is deeper than the skin and in it is thin bright red hair, then[bi] the priest shall declare it unclean—it is a diseased area of skin; it is an infectious skin disease of the head or the beard. 31 But[bj] if the priest examines the diseased area of the skin’s infection and if[bk] its appearance is not deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then[bl] the priest shall confine the afflicted person with the diseased area of skin for seven days. 32 And the priest shall examine the infection on the seventh day, and if[bm] the diseased area of skin has not spread and it does not have bright red hair in it and the diseased area of the skin’s appearance is not deeper than the skin, 33 then[bn] he shall shave himself, but[bo] he shall not shave the diseased area of skin, and the priest shall confine the person with[bp] the diseased area of skin a second time for seven days. 34 And the priest shall examine the diseased area of skin on the seventh day, and if[bq] the diseased area has not spread on the skin and its appearance is not deeper than the skin, then[br] the priest shall pronounce him clean, and he shall wash his garments, and he shall be clean. 35 But[bs] if the diseased area of skin has not spread further on the skin after his cleansing, 36 then[bt] the priest shall examine him, and if[bu] the diseased area of skin has spread on the skin, the priest shall not inspect for bright[bv] red hair—he is unclean. 37 But[bw] if, in his eyes, the diseased area of skin has stayed unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the diseased area of skin is healed—he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

38 “And when a man or a woman has[bx] spots on their body’s skin, white spots, 39 then[by] the priest shall examine them,[bz] and if[ca] the spots on their body’s skin are a faded white, it is a skin rash; it has broken out on the skin—it is clean.

40 “And if a man becomes bald, his head is bald, he is clean. 41 And if he becomes bald from his forehead,[cb] his head is bald, he is clean. 42 But[cc] if a pinkish[cd] infection occurs[ce] on the bald spot or on the bald forehead, it is an infectious skin disease that sprouts on his bald spot or on his bald forehead. 43 So[cf] the priest shall examine him, and if[cg] the infection’s swelling is pinkish[ch] on his bald spot or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of an infectious skin disease on[ci] the body, 44 he is a man afflicted with a skin disease—he is unclean; the priest certainly shall declare him unclean—his infection is on his head.

45 “As for[cj] the person who is afflicted with a skin disease, his garments must be torn and his hair[ck] must be allowed to hang loosely, and he must cover his upper lip, and he must call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 For all the days during which the infection is on him, he shall be unclean; he must live alone; his dwelling must be outside the camp.”[cl]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 13:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 13:2 Literally “man”
  3. Leviticus 13:2 Perfect of הָיָה followed by לְ; see HALOT 244 s.v. 7.c
  4. Leviticus 13:2 Or “and”
  5. Leviticus 13:4 Or “And”
  6. Leviticus 13:4 Or “and”
  7. Leviticus 13:5 Literally “look” or “behold”
  8. Leviticus 13:5 Or “and”
  9. Leviticus 13:6 Literally “look” or “behold”
  10. Leviticus 13:6 Or “and”
  11. Leviticus 13:7 Or “And”
  12. Leviticus 13:7 Or “and”
  13. Leviticus 13:8 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  14. Leviticus 13:8 Literally “look” or “behold”
  15. Leviticus 13:8 Or “and”
  16. Leviticus 13:10 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  17. Leviticus 13:10 Literally “look” or “behold”
  18. Leviticus 13:10 Literally “living of living flesh”
  19. Leviticus 13:12 Literally “for all the sight of the eyes of the priest”
  20. Leviticus 13:13 Or “and”
  21. Leviticus 13:13 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  22. Leviticus 13:13 Literally “look” or “behold”
  23. Leviticus 13:13 Or “and”
  24. Leviticus 13:14 Or “And”
  25. Leviticus 13:14 Literally “on a day”
  26. Leviticus 13:14 Literally “living flesh”
  27. Leviticus 13:15 Literally “living flesh”
  28. Leviticus 13:15 Literally “living flesh”
  29. Leviticus 13:16 Literally “living flesh”
  30. Leviticus 13:16 Or “and”
  31. Leviticus 13:17 Literally “look” or “behold”
  32. Leviticus 13:17 Or “and”
  33. Leviticus 13:18 Literally “becomes on it”
  34. Leviticus 13:19 Literally “white red”
  35. Leviticus 13:19 Or “and”
  36. Leviticus 13:20 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  37. Leviticus 13:20 Literally “look” or “behold”
  38. Leviticus 13:20 Or “and”
  39. Leviticus 13:21 Literally “look” or “behold”
  40. Leviticus 13:21 Or “and”
  41. Leviticus 13:22 Or “And”
  42. Leviticus 13:22 Or “and”
  43. Leviticus 13:23 Or “And”
  44. Leviticus 13:23 Or “and”
  45. Leviticus 13:24 Literally “it becomes”
  46. Leviticus 13:24 Literally “of”
  47. Leviticus 13:24 Literally “living”
  48. Leviticus 13:24 Literally “white red”
  49. Leviticus 13:25 Or “and”
  50. Leviticus 13:25 Literally “look” or “behold”
  51. Leviticus 13:25 Or “and”
  52. Leviticus 13:26 Or “And”
  53. Leviticus 13:26 Literally “look” or “behold”
  54. Leviticus 13:26 Or “and”
  55. Leviticus 13:27 Or “and”
  56. Leviticus 13:28 Or “And”
  57. Leviticus 13:28 Or “and”
  58. Leviticus 13:29 Literally “becomes on him”
  59. Leviticus 13:30 Or “and”
  60. Leviticus 13:30 Literally “look” or “behold”
  61. Leviticus 13:30 Or “and”
  62. Leviticus 13:31 Or “And”
  63. Leviticus 13:31 Literally “look” or “behold”
  64. Leviticus 13:31 Or “and”
  65. Leviticus 13:32 Literally “look” or “behold”
  66. Leviticus 13:33 Or “and”
  67. Leviticus 13:33 Or “and”
  68. Leviticus 13:33 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  69. Leviticus 13:34 Literally “look” or “behold”
  70. Leviticus 13:34 Or “and”
  71. Leviticus 13:35 Or “And”
  72. Leviticus 13:36 Or “and”
  73. Leviticus 13:36 Literally “look” or “behold”
  74. Leviticus 13:36 Hebrew “the bright”
  75. Leviticus 13:37 Or “And”
  76. Leviticus 13:38 Literally “becomes”
  77. Leviticus 13:39 Or “and”
  78. Leviticus 13:39 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  79. Leviticus 13:39 Literally “look” or “behold”
  80. Leviticus 13:41 Literally “from the forehead of his face”
  81. Leviticus 13:42 Or “And”
  82. Leviticus 13:42 Literally “white red”
  83. Leviticus 13:42 Or “becomes” or “happens”
  84. Leviticus 13:43 Or “And”
  85. Leviticus 13:43 Literally “look” or “behold”
  86. Leviticus 13:43 Literally “white red”
  87. Leviticus 13:43 Literally “of”
  88. Leviticus 13:45 Or “And”
  89. Leviticus 13:45 Literally “head”
  90. Leviticus 13:46 Literally “from an outside place of the camp”