The Test for Leprosy

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “When someone has on the skin of his [a]body a swelling, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of [b]leprosy on the skin of his [c]body, (A)then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. The priest shall look at the infected area on the skin of the [d]body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his [e]body, it is an infection of leprosy; when the priest has looked at him, he shall pronounce him unclean. But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his [f]body, and [g]it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, then the priest shall [h]isolate the person who has the infection for seven days. Then the priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the infection has [i]not changed and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall [j]isolate him for seven more days. The priest shall then look at him again on the seventh day, and if the infected area has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a rash. And he shall (B)wash his clothes and be clean.

“But if the rash spreads farther on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again to the priest. And the priest shall look, and if the rash has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.

“When the infection of leprosy is on someone, then he shall be brought to the priest. 10 The priest shall then look, and if there is a (C)white swelling on the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is new raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is [k]a chronic leprosy on the skin of his [l]body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not [m]isolate him, for he is unclean. 12 If the leprosy breaks out farther on the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the person who has the infection from his head even to his feet, [n]as far as the priest can see, 13 then the priest shall look, and behold, if the leprosy has covered his entire [o]body, he shall pronounce the one who has the infection clean; it has all turned white and he is clean. 14 But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 The priest shall look at the raw flesh, and he shall pronounce him unclean; the raw flesh is unclean, it is leprosy. 16 Or if the raw flesh turns back and is changed to white, then he shall (D)come to the priest, 17 and the priest shall look at him, and behold, if the infected area has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the one who has the infection clean; he is clean.

18 “Now when the [p]body has a boil on its skin and it is healed, 19 and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish-white, bright spot, then it shall be shown to the priest; 20 and the priest shall look, and behold, if [q]it appears to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the infection of leprosy, it has broken out in the boil. 21 But if the priest looks at it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it and it is not deeper than the skin and is faded, then the priest shall [r]isolate him for seven days; 22 and if it spreads farther on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection. 23 But if the bright spot remains in its place and does not spread, it is only the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

24 “Or if the [s]body sustains in its skin a burn by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white, 25 then the priest shall look at it. And if the hair in the bright spot has (E)turned white and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is leprosy; it has broken out in the burn. Therefore, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection of leprosy. 26 But if the priest looks at it, and indeed, there is no white hair in the bright spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall [t]isolate him for seven days; 27 and the priest shall look at him on the seventh day. If it spreads farther in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection of leprosy. 28 But if the bright spot remains in its place and has not spread in the skin, but is dim, it is the swelling from the burn; and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is only the scar of the burn.

29 “Now if a man or woman has an infection on the head or on the beard, 30 then the priest shall look at the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and there is thin yellowish hair in it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scale, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard. 31 But if the priest looks at the infection of the scale, and indeed, it appears to be no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall [u]isolate the person with the scaly infection for seven days. 32 And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the infection, and if the scale has not spread and no yellowish hair has [v]grown in it, and the appearance of the scale is no deeper than the skin, 33 then he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the scale; and the priest shall [w]isolate the person with the scale for seven more days. 34 Then on the seventh day the priest shall look at the scale, and if the scale has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35 But if the scale spreads farther in the skin after his cleansing, 36 then the priest shall look at him, and if the scale has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for the yellowish hair; he is unclean. 37 If in his sight the scale has remained, however, and black hair has grown in it, the scale has healed, and he is clean; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

38 “When a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the [x]body, white bright spots, 39 then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots on the skin of their [y]bodies are a faint white, it is [z]eczema that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.

40 “Now if a man [aa]loses the hair of his head, he is only (F)bald; he is clean. 41 And if his head becomes bald at the [ab]front and sides, he is bald on the forehead; he is clean. 42 But if on the bald head or the bald forehead there occurs a reddish-white infection, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or on his bald forehead. 43 Then (G)the priest shall look at him; and if the swelling of the infection is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the [ac]body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his infection is on his head.

45 “As for the person who has the leprous infection, his clothes shall be torn and (H)the hair of his head shall be [ad]uncovered, and he shall (I)cover his [ae]mustache and call out, ‘(J)Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; he shall live (K)outside the camp.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 13:2 Lit flesh
  2. Leviticus 13:2 I.e., or a serious, unspecified disease, and so throughout the ch
  3. Leviticus 13:2 Lit flesh
  4. Leviticus 13:3 Lit flesh
  5. Leviticus 13:3 Lit flesh
  6. Leviticus 13:4 Lit flesh
  7. Leviticus 13:4 Lit the appearance of it is not deeper
  8. Leviticus 13:4 Lit separate
  9. Leviticus 13:5 Lit stood
  10. Leviticus 13:5 Lit separate
  11. Leviticus 13:11 Lit aging
  12. Leviticus 13:11 Lit flesh
  13. Leviticus 13:11 Lit separate
  14. Leviticus 13:12 Lit to the entire sight of the priest’s eyes
  15. Leviticus 13:13 Lit flesh
  16. Leviticus 13:18 Lit flesh
  17. Leviticus 13:20 Lit the appearance of it is deeper
  18. Leviticus 13:21 Lit separate
  19. Leviticus 13:24 Lit flesh
  20. Leviticus 13:26 Lit separate
  21. Leviticus 13:31 Lit separate
  22. Leviticus 13:32 Lit been
  23. Leviticus 13:33 Lit separate
  24. Leviticus 13:38 Lit flesh
  25. Leviticus 13:39 Lit flesh
  26. Leviticus 13:39 Lit vitiligo
  27. Leviticus 13:40 Lit becomes bald on his head
  28. Leviticus 13:41 Lit border of his face
  29. Leviticus 13:43 Lit flesh
  30. Leviticus 13:45 Or disheveled
  31. Leviticus 13:45 I.e., mouth

Serious Skin Diseases

13 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “If anyone has a swelling or a rash or discolored skin that might develop into a serious skin disease,[a] that person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons.[b] The priest will examine the affected area of the skin. If the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, it is a serious skin disease, and the priest who examines it must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean.

“But if the affected area of the skin is only a white discoloration and does not appear to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair on the spot has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days. On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has not changed and the problem has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine the person for seven more days. On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has faded and has not spread, the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. It was only a rash. The person’s clothing must be washed, and the person will be ceremonially clean. But if the rash continues to spread after the person has been examined by the priest and has been pronounced clean, the infected person must return to be examined again. If the priest finds that the rash has spread, he must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, for it is indeed a skin disease.

“Anyone who develops a serious skin disease must go to the priest for an examination. 10 If the priest finds a white swelling on the skin, and some hair on the spot has turned white, and there is an open sore in the affected area, 11 it is a chronic skin disease, and the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. In such cases the person need not be quarantined, for it is obvious that the skin is defiled by the disease.

12 “Now suppose the disease has spread all over the person’s skin, covering the body from head to foot. 13 When the priest examines the infected person and finds that the disease covers the entire body, he will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. Since the skin has turned completely white, the person is clean. 14 But if any open sores appear, the infected person will be pronounced ceremonially unclean. 15 The priest must make this pronouncement as soon as he sees an open sore, since open sores indicate the presence of a skin disease. 16 However, if the open sores heal and turn white like the rest of the skin, the person must return to the priest 17 for another examination. If the affected areas have indeed turned white, the priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean by declaring, ‘You are clean!’

18 “If anyone has a boil on the skin that has started to heal, 19 but a white swelling or a reddish white spot develops in its place, that person must go to the priest to be examined. 20 If the priest examines it and finds it to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair in the affected area has turned white, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. The boil has become a serious skin disease. 21 But if the priest finds no white hair on the affected area and the problem appears to be no more than skin-deep and has faded, the priest must quarantine the person for seven days. 22 If during that time the affected area spreads on the skin, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, because it is a serious disease. 23 But if the area grows no larger and does not spread, it is merely the scar from the boil, and the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean.

24 “If anyone has suffered a burn on the skin and the burned area changes color, becoming either reddish white or shiny white, 25 the priest must examine it. If he finds that the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, a skin disease has broken out in the burn. The priest must then pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, for it is clearly a serious skin disease. 26 But if the priest finds no white hair on the affected area and the problem appears to be no more than skin-deep and has faded, the priest must quarantine the infected person for seven days. 27 On the seventh day the priest must examine the person again. If the affected area has spread on the skin, the priest must pronounce that person ceremonially unclean, for it is clearly a serious skin disease. 28 But if the affected area has not changed or spread on the skin and has faded, it is simply a swelling from the burn. The priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean, for it is only the scar from the burn.

29 “If anyone, either a man or woman, has a sore on the head or chin, 30 the priest must examine it. If he finds it is more than skin-deep and has fine yellow hair on it, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. It is a scabby sore of the head or chin. 31 If the priest examines the scabby sore and finds that it is only skin-deep but there is no black hair on it, he must quarantine the person for seven days. 32 On the seventh day the priest must examine the sore again. If he finds that the scabby sore has not spread, and there is no yellow hair on it, and it appears to be only skin-deep, 33 the person must shave off all hair except the hair on the affected area. Then the priest must quarantine the person for another seven days. 34 On the seventh day he will examine the sore again. If it has not spread and appears to be no more than skin-deep, the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. The person’s clothing must be washed, and the person will be ceremonially clean. 35 But if the scabby sore begins to spread after the person is pronounced clean, 36 the priest must do another examination. If he finds that the sore has spread, the priest does not need to look for yellow hair. The infected person is ceremonially unclean. 37 But if the color of the scabby sore does not change and black hair has grown on it, it has healed. The priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean.

38 “If anyone, either a man or woman, has shiny white patches on the skin, 39 the priest must examine the affected area. If he finds that the shiny patches are only pale white, this is a harmless skin rash, and the person is ceremonially clean.

40 “If a man loses his hair and his head becomes bald, he is still ceremonially clean. 41 And if he loses hair on his forehead, he simply has a bald forehead; he is still clean. 42 However, if a reddish white sore appears on the bald area on top of his head or on his forehead, this is a skin disease. 43 The priest must examine him, and if he finds swelling around the reddish white sore anywhere on the man’s head and it looks like a skin disease, 44 the man is indeed infected with a skin disease and is unclean. The priest must pronounce him ceremonially unclean because of the sore on his head.

45 “Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed.[c] They must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.

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Footnotes

  1. 13:2a Traditionally rendered leprosy. The Hebrew word used throughout this passage is used to describe various skin diseases.
  2. 13:2b Or one of his descendants.
  3. 13:45 Or and uncover their heads.