Leviticus 13:1-46
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Skin Disease, 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[a] or an eruption or a spot and it turns into a defiling disease on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.(A) 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 defiling disease; after the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him 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.(B) 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 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.(C) 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.(D) 8 The priest shall make an examination, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is defiling.
9 “When a person contracts a defiling skin disease, he shall be brought to the priest. 10 The priest shall make an examination, and if there is a white swelling[b] in the skin that has turned the hair white and there is a patch of raw flesh in the swelling,[c](E) 11 it is a chronic defiling 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 defiling 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 defiling 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; it is defiling.(F) 16 But if the raw flesh again turns white, he shall come to the priest;(G) 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,(H) 19 and in the place of the boil there appears a white swelling[d] or a reddish-white spot, it shall be shown to the priest.(I) 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 defiling 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 seven days.(J) 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 patch 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 appears deeper than the skin, it is defiling; it has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a defiling disease.(K) 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 seven days. 27 The priest shall examine him the seventh day; if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a defiling disease.(L) 28 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin but has abated, it is a swelling[e] from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn.
29 “When a man or a woman has a disease on the head or in the beard,(M) 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 defiling 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,(N) 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.(O) 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.(P) 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.(Q) 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 defiling disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 The priest shall examine him; if the diseased swelling[f] is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, which resembles a defiling disease in the skin of the body, 44 he is defiled; he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; the disease is on his head.(R)
45 “The person who has the defiling disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled, 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.(S)
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Leviticus 13:1-46
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Diagnosis of Impurity From Skin Diseases
13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
2 When a person has a discoloration or a scab or a shiny patch[a] on the skin of his body,[b] which may become an outbreak of an impure skin disease[c] on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who are priests. 3 The priest shall examine the infection on the skin of his body. If the hair on the infection has turned white and if the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. After the priest has examined it, he shall declare it unclean.[d]
4 But if there is a white shiny patch on the skin of his body that does not appear to be any deeper than the skin and if its hair has not turned white, the priest shall quarantine the person with the infection for seven days. 5 On the seventh day the priest shall examine him, and if, in his judgment, the infection has stayed the same and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days a second time. 6 On the seventh day the priest shall examine him a second time. If the infection has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall declare it clean. It is only a scab. After he washes his clothes, he will be clean. 7 But if the scab on his skin spreads after he has shown himself to the priest for his purification, he shall show himself to the priest once again. 8 The priest shall examine him. If the scab has spread on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an impure skin disease.
9 When a person has an outbreak of a skin disease, he shall be brought to the priest. 10 The priest shall examine him. If there is white discoloration in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is a sore of raw flesh in the discoloration, 11 it is a persistent skin disease on his body. The priest shall declare him unclean. He shall not hold him in quarantine, because he is unclean.
12 But if the disease breaks out all over the skin, so that a diseased condition covers all the skin with the infection, from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see, 13 then the priest shall examine him. If the condition covers the whole of his body, he shall declare the infected area clean, since the whole of it has turned white. He is clean. 14 But as soon as raw flesh reappears on him, he becomes unclean. 15 The priest shall examine the raw flesh and declare it unclean. The raw flesh is unclean. It is an impure skin disease. 16 If, however, the raw flesh once again turns white, he shall come to the priest again. 17 The priest shall examine it. If the infected area has turned white, the priest shall declare the infection clean. He is clean.
18 When someone’s body has a boil on the skin that has healed, 19 and a white discoloration or shiny, reddish-white patch develops on the site of the boil, he shall show himself to the priest. 20 The priest shall examine him. If the infection appears deeper than the skin and if its hair has turned white, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. It has broken out in the boil. 21 But if the priest examines it and finds that the hair in it is not white, and it is not deeper than the skin, but it has faded, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. 22 If the outbreak spreads on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an infection. 23 But if the shiny patch remains the same and it does not spread, it is the scar of a boil. The priest shall declare him clean.
24 When someone’s body has a burn on the skin, and the sore from the burn becomes a shiny, reddish-white or white patch, 25 the priest shall examine it. If the hair in the shiny patch has turned white and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is an impure skin disease. It has broken out in the burn. The priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. 26 But if the priest examines it and finds that the hair in the shiny patch is not white or it is not deeper than the skin, but it has faded, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. 27 On the seventh day the priest shall examine it. If it should spread on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of a skin disease. 28 But if the patch remains the same, without spreading on the skin, and if it has faded, it is the discoloration from a burn. The priest shall declare him clean, because it is the scar of a burn.
29 When a man or a woman has an outbreak on the head or on the chin, 30 the priest shall examine the outbreak. If it appears deeper than the skin and if the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall declare the person unclean. It is a lesion.[e] It is an impure skin disease of the head or the chin. 31 If the priest examines the infected area of the sore and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall quarantine the person who has the outbreak of the sore for seven days. 32 On the seventh day the priest shall examine the infected area. If the lesion has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and if the outbreak appears no deeper than the skin, 33 the man shall shave himself, without shaving the infected area. The priest shall quarantine the person with the lesion a second time for seven days. 34 On the seventh day the priest shall examine the lesion. If the lesion has not spread on the skin and it appears no deeper than the skin, the priest shall declare him clean. After he washes his clothes, he will be clean. 35 If, however, the lesion spreads on the skin after his purification, 36 the priest shall examine it. If the lesion has spread on the skin, the priest does not need to look for the yellow hair. The person is unclean. 37 But, if in the priest’s judgment the lesion has stayed the same and black hair has grown in it, the lesion is healed. That person is clean. The priest shall declare him clean.
38 When a man or a woman has many shiny white patches on the skin of his or her body, 39 the priest shall examine that person. If the patches on the skin of the body are a faded white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin. That person is clean.
40 When a man loses hair from the top of his head, he is bald, but he is clean. 41 If he loses hair from his forehead, he has a receding hairline, but he is clean. 42 But if he has a reddish-white infection on his bald crown or on his bald forehead, it is an impure skin disease that has broken out on his bald head or on his bald forehead. 43 The priest shall examine it. If the discoloration of the infection is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead and it looks like the disease on the skin of the body, 44 he has an impure skin disease. He is unclean. The priest shall declare him completely unclean. It is an infection on his head.
45 The person with the skin disease who has an infection on him must wear torn clothes and let his hair be disheveled. He must cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” 46 For as long as the infection is on him he shall remain unclean. He is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 13:2 The identification of some of the symptoms throughout this section is uncertain.
- Leviticus 13:2 Literally skin of his flesh. Flesh here seems to cover the whole body except for the head, which has special rules (verse 29).
- Leviticus 13:2 Traditionally leprosy, but the Hebrew term has wider application than to that specific disease. Though some translations add the adjectives scaly or infectious, these terms are not accurate for all cases. There is also no indication that contagion is the main issue. Impure skin disease seems generic enough to cover all cases.
- Leviticus 13:3 In this context purity and impurity, cleanness and uncleanness refer to ceremonial purity, not to hygiene or morality.
- Leviticus 13:30 The precise meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain. It may be any sort of sore spot. Leviticus contains many technical terms that are challenging to translate.
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The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.