Leviticus 13-14

Contemporary English Version

Skin Diseases

13 The Lord told Moses and Aaron to say to the people:

² If sores or boils or a skin rash should break out and start spreading on your body, you must be brought to Aaron or to one of the other priests. ³ If the priest discovers that the hair in the infected area has turned white and that the infection seems more than skin deep, he will say, “This is leprosy^[a]—you are unclean.”

⁴ But if the infected area is white and only skin deep, and if the hair in it hasn't turned white, the priest will order you to stay away from everyone else for seven days. ⁵ If the disease hasn't spread by that time, he will order you to stay away from everyone else for another seven days. ⁶ Then if the disease hasn't become any worse or spread, the priest will say, “You are clean. It is only a sore. After you wash your clothes, you may go home.”

⁷ However, if the disease comes back, you must return to the priest. ⁸ If it is discovered that the disease has started spreading, he will say, “This is leprosy—you are unclean.”

⁹ Any of you with a skin disease must be brought to a priest. ¹⁰ If he discovers that the sore spot is white with pus and that the hair around it has also turned white, ¹¹ he will say, “This is leprosy. You are unclean and must stay away from everyone else.” ^12-13 But if the disease has run its course and only the scars remain, he will say, “You are clean.” ^14-15 If the sores come back and turn white again, he will say, “This is leprosy—you are unclean.”

^16-17 However, if the sores heal and only white spots remain, the priest will say, “You are now clean.”

^18-19 If you have a sore that either swells or turns reddish-white after it has healed, then you must show it to a priest. ²⁰ If he discovers that the hair in the infected area has turned white and that the infection seems more than skin deep, he will say, “This is leprosy—you are unclean.” ²¹ But if the white area is only on the surface of the skin and hasn't become any worse, and if the hair in it hasn't turned white, he will tell you to stay away from everyone else for seven days.

²² If the sore begins spreading during this time, the priest will say, “You are unclean because you have a disease.” ²³ But if it doesn't spread, and only a scar remains, he will say, “You are now clean.”

²⁴ If you have a burn that gets infected and turns red or reddish-white, ²⁵ a priest must examine it. Then if he discovers that the hair in the infected area has turned white and that the infection seems more than skin deep, he will say, “The burn has turned into leprosy, and you are unclean.” ²⁶ But if the priest finds that the hair in the infected area hasn't turned white and that the sore is only skin deep and it is healing, he will tell you to stay away from everyone else for seven days. ²⁷ On the seventh day the priest will examine you again, and if the infection is spreading, he will say, “This is leprosy—you are unclean.” ²⁸ However, if the infection hasn't spread and has begun to heal, and if only a scar remains, he will say, “Only a scar remains from the burn, and you are clean.”

²⁹ If you have a sore on your head or chin, ³⁰ it must be examined by a priest. If the infection seems more than skin deep, and the hair in it has thinned out and lost its color, he will say, “This is leprosy—you are unclean.” ³¹ On the other hand, if he discovers that the itchy spot is only skin deep, but that the hair still isn't healthy, he will order you to stay away from everyone else for seven days. ³² By that time, if the itch hasn't spread, if the hair seems healthy, and if the itch is only skin deep, ³³ you must shave off the hair around the infection, but not those on it. Then the priest will tell you to stay away from everyone else for another seven days. ³⁴ By that time, if the itch hasn't spread and seems no more than skin deep, he will say, “You are clean; now you must wash your clothes.”

^35-36 Later, if the itch starts spreading, even though the hair is still healthy, the priest will say, “You are unclean.” ³⁷ But if he thinks you are completely well, he will say, “You are clean.”

³⁸ If white spots break out on your skin, ³⁹ but the priest discovers that it is only a rash, he will say, “You are clean.”

^40-41 If you become bald on any part of your head, you are still clean. ^42-43 But if a priest discovers that a reddish-white sore has broken out on the bald spot and looks like leprosy, he will say, ⁴⁴ “This is leprosy—you are unclean.”

⁴⁵ If you ever have leprosy, you must tear your clothes, leave your hair uncombed, cover the lower part of your face, and go around shouting, “I'm unclean! I'm unclean!” ⁴⁶ As long as you have the disease, you are unclean and must live alone outside the camp.

^47-50 If a greenish or reddish spot^[b] appears anywhere on any of your clothing or on anything made of leather, you must let the priest examine the clothing or the leather. He will put it aside for seven days, ⁵¹ and if the mildew has spread in that time, he will say, “This is unclean ⁵² because the mildew has spread.” Then he will burn the clothing or the piece of leather.

⁵³ If the priest discovers that the mildew hasn't spread, ⁵⁴ he will tell you to wash the clothing or leather and put it aside for another seven days, ⁵⁵ after which he will examine it again. If the spot hasn't spread, but is still greenish or reddish, the clothing or leather is unclean and must be burned. ⁵⁶ But if the spot has faded after being washed, he will tear away the spot. ⁵⁷ Later, if the spot reappears elsewhere on the clothing or the leather, you must burn it. ⁵⁸ Even if the spot completely disappears after being washed, it must be washed again before it is clean.

⁵⁹ These are the rules for deciding if clothing is clean or unclean after a spot appears on it.

The Ceremony for People Healed of Leprosy

14 The Lord told Moses to say to the people:

^2-3 (A) After you think you are healed of leprosy,^[c] you must ask for a priest to come outside the camp and examine you. And if you are well, ⁴ he will order someone to bring out two live birds that are acceptable for sacrifice, together with a stick of cedar wood, a piece of red yarn, and a branch from a hyssop plant. ⁵ The priest will order someone to kill one of the birds over a clay pot of spring water. ⁶ Then he will dip the other bird, the cedar, the red yarn, and the hyssop in the blood of the dead bird. ⁷ Next, he will sprinkle you seven times with the blood and say, “You are now clean.” Finally, he will release the bird and let it fly away.

⁸ After this you must wash your clothes, shave your entire body, and take a bath before you are completely clean. You may move back into camp, but you must not enter your tent for seven days. ⁹ Then you must once again shave your head, face, and eyebrows, as well as the hair on the rest of your body. Finally, wash your clothes and take a bath, and you will be completely clean.

¹⁰ On the eighth day you must bring to the priest two rams and a year-old female lamb that have nothing wrong with them; also bring 300 milliliters of olive oil and 3 kilograms of your finest flour mixed with oil. ¹¹ Then the priest will present you and your offerings to me at the entrance to my sacred tent. ¹² There he will offer one of the rams, together with the oil, as a sacrifice to make things right.^[d] He will also lift them up^[e] to show that they are dedicated to me. ¹³ This sacrifice is very holy. It belongs to the priest and must be killed in the same place where animals are killed as sacrifices for sins and as sacrifices to please me.^[f]

¹⁴ The priest will smear some of the blood from this sacrifice on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot. ¹⁵ He will then pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his left hand, ¹⁶ dip a finger of his right hand into the oil, and sprinkle some of it seven times toward the sacred tent. ¹⁷ Next, the priest will smear some of the oil on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot, ^18-20 and he will pour the rest of the oil from his palm on your head. Then he will offer the other two animals—one as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me, together with a grain sacrifice. After this you will be completely clean.

²¹ If you are poor and cannot afford to offer this much, you may offer a ram as a sacrifice to make things right, together with 300 milliliters of olive oil and one kilogram of flour mixed with oil as a grain sacrifice. The priest will then lift these up^[g] to dedicate them to me. ²² Depending on what you can afford, you must also offer either two doves or two pigeons, one as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me. ²³ The priest will offer these to me in front of the sacred tent on the eighth day.

^24-25 The priest will kill this ram for the sacrifice to make things right, and he will lift it up^[h] with the olive oil in dedication to me. Then he will smear some of the blood on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot.

²⁶ The priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his left hand, ²⁷ then dip a finger of his right hand in the oil and sprinkle some of it seven times toward the sacred tent. ²⁸ He will smear some of the oil on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot, just as he did with the blood of the sacrifice to make things right. ^29-31 And he will pour the rest of the oil from his palm on your head.

Then, depending on what you can afford, he will offer either the doves or the pigeons together with the grain sacrifice. One of the birds is the sacrifice for sin, and the other is the sacrifice to please me. After this you will be completely clean.

³² These are the things you must do if you have leprosy and cannot afford the usual sacrifices to make you clean.

When There Is Mildew in a House

³³ The Lord told Moses and Aaron to say to the people:

³⁴ After I have given you the land of Canaan as your permanent possession, here is what you must do, if I ever put mildew^[i] on the walls of any of your homes. ³⁵ First, you must say to a priest, “I think there is mildew on the wall of my house.”

³⁶ The priest will reply, “Empty the house before I inspect it, or else everything in it will be unclean.”

³⁷ If the priest discovers greenish or reddish spots that go deeper than the surface of the walls, ³⁸ he will have the house closed for seven days. ³⁹ Then he will return and check to see if the mildew has spread. ^40-41 If so, he will order someone to scrape the plaster from the walls, remove the stones covered with mildew, then haul everything off and dump it in an unclean place outside the town. ⁴² Afterwards the wall must be repaired with new stones and fresh plaster.

⁴³ If the mildew appears a second time, ⁴⁴ the priest will come and say, “This house is unclean. It's covered with mildew that can't be removed.” ⁴⁵ Then he will have the house torn down and every bit of wood, stone, and plaster hauled off to an unclean place outside the town. ⁴⁶ Meanwhile, if any of you entered the house while it was closed, you will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁷ And if you either slept or ate in the house, you must wash your clothes.

⁴⁸ On the other hand, if the priest discovers that mildew hasn't reappeared after the house was newly plastered, he will say, “This house is clean—the mildew has gone.” ⁴⁹ Then, to show that the house is now clean, he will get two birds, a stick of cedar wood, a piece of red yarn, and a branch from a hyssop plant and bring them to the house. ⁵⁰ He will kill one of the birds over a clay pot of spring water ^51-52 and let its blood drain into the pot. Then he will dip the cedar, the hyssop, the yarn, and the other bird into the mixture of blood and water. Next, he will sprinkle the house seven times with the mixture, then the house will be completely clean. ⁵³ Finally, he will release the bird and let it fly away, ending the ceremony for purifying the house.

^54-57 These are the things you must do if you discover that you are unclean because of an itch or a sore, or that your clothing or house is unclean because of mildew.