Cleansing of Contaminated Objects

33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 34 “When you enter the land of Canaan(A) that I am giving you as a possession,(B) and I place a mildew contamination in a house in the land you possess,[a] 35 the owner of the house is to come and tell the priest: Something like mildew contamination has appeared[b] in my house. 36 The priest must order them to clear the house before he enters to examine the contamination, so that nothing in the house becomes unclean. Afterward the priest will come to examine the house. 37 He will examine it, and if the contamination in the walls of the house consists of green or red indentations[c] that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall, 38 the priest is to go outside the house to its doorway and quarantine the house for seven days. 39 The priest is to return on the seventh day and examine it. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house, 40 the priest must order that the stones with the contamination be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. 41 He is to have the inside of the house completely scraped, and have the plaster[d] that is scraped off dumped in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they are to take different stones to replace the former ones and take additional plaster to replaster the house.

43 “If the contamination reappears in the house after the stones have been pulled out, and after the house has been scraped and replastered, 44 the priest is to come and examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is harmful mildew; the house is unclean. 45 It must be torn down with its stones, its beams, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place. 46 Whoever enters the house during any of the days the priest quarantines it will be unclean until evening. 47 Whoever lies down in the house is to wash his clothes, and whoever eats in it is to wash his clothes.

48 “But when the priest comes and examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the house after it was replastered, he is to pronounce the house clean because the contamination has disappeared.[e] 49 He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house, 50 and he is to slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot containing fresh water. 51 He will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. 53 Then he is to release the live bird into the open countryside(C) outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.

54 “This is the law for any skin disease or mildew, for a scaly outbreak, 55 for mildew in clothing or on a house, 56 and for a swelling, scab, or spot, 57 to determine when something is unclean or clean. This is the law regarding skin disease and mildew.”

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Footnotes

  1. 14:34 Lit land of your possession
  2. 14:35 Lit appeared to me
  3. 14:37 Or eruptions; Hb obscure
  4. 14:41 Lit dust, also in v. 42
  5. 14:48 Lit healed

Houses with skin disease

33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 34 When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving to you as a possession, and I put an infection of skin disease on a house in the land you possess, 35 the homeowner must come and tell the priest, “I think some sort of infection is in my house.” 36 The priest will order that the house be emptied before he comes to examine it so that nothing else in the house will become unclean. After that, the priest will come to examine the house. 37 If he examines the infection, and the infection in the walls of the house consists of greenish or reddish depressions, which appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 the priest will exit the house, go to the front door, and quarantine the house for seven days. 39 On the seventh day, the priest will return. If he finds that the infection has spread over the walls of the house, 40 the priest will order the stones in which the infection is found to be pulled out and discarded outside the city in an unclean area. 41 The inside of the house will then be scraped on all sides, and the plaster that has been scraped off must be dumped outside the city in an unclean area. 42 Then different stones will be used in place of the first ones, and new coating will be used to replaster the house.

43 If the infection breaks out again in the house after the stones have been pulled out and the house scraped and replastered, 44 the priest will return. If he finds that the infection has spread throughout the house, it is a case of infectious skin disease in the house; the house is unclean. 45 The house must be destroyed—its stones, wood, and all the plaster in the house. All of it must be taken outside the city to an unclean area. 46 Anyone who enters the house during the entire period when it is quarantined will be unclean until evening. 47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash their clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must also wash their clothes.

48 But if the priest arrives and finds that the infection has not spread after the house was replastered, the priest will declare the house clean because the infection has been healed. 49 To cleanse the house, the priest will take two birds, cedarwood, crimson yarn, and hyssop. 50 He will slaughter one bird over fresh water in a pottery jar. 51 He will then take the cedarwood, hyssop, and crimson yarn, along with the wild[a] bird, and will dip all of this into the fresh water and into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered. He will then sprinkle the house seven times. 52 In this way, the priest will cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the wild bird, the cedarwood, the hyssop, and the crimson yarn. 53 Then he will release the wild bird outside the city into the countryside. In this way, he will make reconciliation for the house, and it will be clean.

Conclusion concerning skin disease

54 This concludes the Instruction concerning every infection of skin disease: for scabies, 55 for skin disease on clothing or in houses, 56 and for swelling, scabs, or shiny spots, 57 in order to determine when it is unclean or clean. This concludes the Instruction concerning skin disease.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 14:51 Or live or healthy