Chronological

Purification Requirements

14 The Lord told Moses, ² “This is the law concerning those who have infectious skin diseases, after they have been cleansed: ³ The priest is to go outside the camp and examine the infectious skin disease to confirm that the person has been healed. ⁴ If he has been healed, then the priest is to command that two live and clean birds, some cedar^[a] wood, some crimson thread, and hyssop be brought for the one cleansed. ⁵ Then the priest is to command that one bird be slaughtered on an earthen vessel over flowing water. ⁶ He is to take the live bird, the cedar wood, the crimson thread, and the hyssop, and dip them together in the blood of the bird that had been slaughtered over the flowing water. ⁷ He is to sprinkle the blood^[b] seven times on the person with the infectious skin disease and then pronounce him clean. Then he is to release the live bird into the open fields. ⁸ The person who is clean is to wash his clothes, shave all his hair, and bathe in water, after which he is to be declared clean. Then he can be brought back to the camp, but he is to remain outside his tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day, he is to shave the hair on his head, chin, back, and eyebrows. After he has shaved all his hair, washed his clothes, and bathed himself with water, then he will be clean.”

Reconsecration after Infections

¹⁰ “On the eighth day, he is to take two lambs without defect, a one year old ewe lamb without defect, one third of a measure of^[c] fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering, and one log^[d] of oil. ¹¹ The priest who will pronounce him clean is to present the person to be cleansed and these offerings^[e] in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹² The priest is to take one of the lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with one log^[f] of olive oil, which he is to wave as a raised offering in the Lord’s presence. ¹³ Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the place where he slaughtered the sin and burnt offerings—that is, at a place in the sanctuary. Just as the sin offering is for the priest, so also is the guilt offering. It’s a most holy thing.

¹⁴ “Then the priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and place it on the right earlobe of the person to be cleansed, on his right thumb, and on his right great toe. ¹⁵ Then the priest is to take some of the log^[g] of olive oil and pour it into his own left hand. ¹⁶ The priest is to dip his right finger in the olive oil that is in his left palm and sprinkle some of the olive oil with his finger seven times in the Lord’s presence.

¹⁷ “As to the remainder of the olive oil in his palm, he is to place some on the right earlobe of the person to be cleansed, on his right thumb, on his right great toe, and on the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸ Then he is to place the rest of the oil in his palm on the head of the person to be cleansed, thus making atonement for him in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁹ This is how^[h] the priest is to present the sin offering to make atonement for the person being cleansed of his impurity. After this, he is to slaughter the whole burnt offering. ²⁰ The priest is to offer both the whole burnt and the grain offerings on the altar. After the priest makes atonement for him, he will be clean.”

Alternate Offerings

²¹ “If the offeror^[i] is poor and cannot afford the regular offering,^[j] then he is to take one lamb for a guilt offering that will be presented in the form of a wave offering to atone for him, one tenth of a measure of^[k] fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, one log^[l] of olive oil, ²² and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford. One is for a sin offering and the other is for a whole burnt offering.

²³ “On the eighth day, he is to bring them for cleansing to the priest in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²⁴ The priest is to take the lamb for a guilt offering and the olive oil and wave them as a raised offering in the Lord’s presence. ²⁵ Then he^[m] is to take the lamb for the guilt offering and place some blood from the guilt offering on the right earlobe of the person to be cleansed, on his right thumb, and on his right great toe. ²⁶ Then the priest is to pour olive oil into his left palm ²⁷ and use his right finger to sprinkle oil from his left palm seven times in the Lord’s presence. ²⁸ The priest is to place oil from his palm on the right earlobe of the person being cleansed, on his right thumb, on his right great toe, and where the blood for the guilt offering is poured.

²⁹ “As to the remainder of the oil in his palm, the priest is to use it to anoint the head of the person to be cleansed, in order to make atonement for him in the Lord’s presence. ³⁰ Then he is to offer one of the turtledoves or the young pigeons, whichever he can afford. ³¹ Based on what he can afford, one is for a sin offering and the other is for a whole burnt offering. Along with the grain offering, the priest is to make atonement for the person to be cleansed in the Lord’s presence. ³² This is the regulation concerning one who has an infectious skin disease but who cannot afford his cleansing.”

Infected Dwellings

³³ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ³⁴ “When you enter the land of Canaan that I’m about to give you as your own possession, and if I put a contagion in a house in the land that you possess, ³⁵ then the owner of the house is to approach the priest and tell him, ‘There appears to be a contagion in the house.’

³⁶ “The priest is to command that the house be cleared before he^[n] comes to examine the contagion so that not everything in the house becomes unclean. After this,^[o] the priest is to enter the house and examine it. ³⁷ He is to determine if the contagion is indeed on the walls of the house, with greenish or reddish streaks, and to determine if it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall. ³⁸ The priest is to leave through the entrance to the house and seal the house for seven days. ³⁹ He is to return after seven days to examine it. If the contagion has spread to the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ then the priest is to command that they take out the contaminated stones and discard them in an unclean place outside the city.

⁴¹ “Now as for the house, they are to scrape off inside and outside the house and then discard the torn out plaster in an unclean place outside the city. ⁴² They are then to take other stones and bring them to replace those stones. Lastly, they are to replaster the house.”

Destruction of Infected Dwellings

⁴³ “If the contagion returns and spreads throughout the house after the stones have been removed, after the house has been scraped out, and after it has been re-coated, ⁴⁴ and the priest comes, undertakes an examination, and determines that the contagion has spread in the house, it’s a chronic fungal infection in the house. It’s unclean. ⁴⁵ He is to pull down the house, its stones, its lumber, and all the plaster on the house, and discard them in an unclean place outside the city. ⁴⁶ Moreover, whoever enters the house during the time it was isolated is to be considered unclean until the evening. ⁴⁷ Whoever has slept in the house is to wash his clothes, along with whoever has eaten in the house.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest comes in to conduct an examination and determines that the contagion has not spread throughout the house after the house has been repaired, then the priest may declare the house clean, because the contagion has been cleansed. ⁴⁹ In order to cleanse the house, he is to take two birds, some cedar wood, two crimson threads, and some hyssop. ⁵⁰ Then he is to slaughter one bird on an earthen vessel over flowing water. ⁵¹ He is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the two crimson threads, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird over flowing water. Then he is to sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He is to clean the house with the blood of the bird over flowing water, including cleansing^[p] the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the crimson thread. ⁵³ Then he is to send the bird away, outside the city, facing the fields, to make atonement for the house. Then it is to be considered clean.

⁵⁴ “This is the law for every contagion of infectious skin disease and scabs, ⁵⁵ for fungal infections on clothing or in a house, ⁵⁶ and for swelling of the skin, scabs, and bright spots, ⁵⁷ to distinguish when^[q] it’s unclean and clean. This is the law for infectious skin diseases.”

Regulations Concerning Discharges

15 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, ² “Tell the Israelis that when a man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean, ³ and this is the cause of his uncleanness—his discharge. Whether his body is releasing the discharge or his body has stopped the discharge, he’s unclean. ⁴ Every bed on which he lies down with the discharge is to be considered unclean, and every object on which he sits becomes unclean. ⁵ Any person^[r] who touches his bed is to wash his garments and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁶ Whoever sits on any object on which the one with the discharge has sat is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

⁷ “Whoever touches the body of someone with a discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁸ Whoever has a discharge and spits on someone who is clean, then he is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

⁹ “Any saddle that anyone with a discharge rides on will become unclean. ¹⁰ Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening. Whoever carries these things is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

¹¹ “Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ¹² The earthen vessel that the person with the discharge touches is to be broken in pieces, and every wooden vessel is to be rinsed with water.”

On Cleansing from Discharges

¹³ “When the one with the discharge is cleansed from his discharge, then he is to set aside for himself seven days for his cleansing. He is to wash his clothes and bathe with flowing water. Then he will be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day, he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young doves, bring them to the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ Then the priest is to offer them—one for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. That’s how the priest will make atonement for him in the Lord’s presence regarding his discharge.”

On Seminal Emissions

¹⁶ “If a man has a seminal emission, he is to bathe his entire body with water and remain unclean until evening. ¹⁷ Every garment (including leather) on which the semen is found is to be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸ When a man has sexual relations with a woman and the man releases semen, both are to bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.”

On Menstrual Discharges

¹⁹ “When a woman has a discharge,^[s] and the blood is her monthly menstrual discharge^[t] from her body, then for seven days she is to remain in her menstrual uncleanness. Whoever touches her will remain unclean until evening. ²⁰ Everything that she sleeps on during her uncleanness will be unclean. Moreover, everything that she sits on will become unclean. ²¹ Anyone who touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²² Anyone who touches any of the objects on which she has sat is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²³ Any bed or other object on which she sat that he touches will make him unclean until evening. ²⁴ When a man has sexual relations with her and her menstrual uncleanness touches him, he will be unclean for seven days. Every bed where he sleeps will remain unclean.

²⁵ “When a woman has a continuous discharge of blood many days beyond the time of her menstrual uncleanness, or if she has a discharge that lasts beyond the days of her menstrual uncleanness, her uncleanness is to be treated like the days of her menstruation—she’s unclean. ²⁶ Every bed on which she sleeps the whole time she has the discharge will be her own unclean bed, so that every object on which she sits becomes unclean like her menstrual uncleanness. ²⁷ Whoever touches them will become unclean. He is to wash his clothes and bathe with water and he will remain unclean until evening.

²⁸ “If she becomes clean with her discharge, then she is to count for herself seven days, after which she becomes clean. ²⁹ On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ³⁰ Then the priest is to offer one for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. This is how the priest will make atonement in the Lord’s presence for her regarding her unclean discharge.

³¹ “So separate the Israelis from their uncleanness so that they won’t die in their uncleanness if they defile my tent that is in their midst. ³² These are the regulations for one whose discharge of semen causes him to become unclean because of it, ³³ for her whose menstruation causes her to become ill,^[u] for anyone who has a discharge (whether male or female), and for the man who has sexual relations^[v] with one who is unclean.”