Passage: Leviticus 13, 14 (RSV)


Leviticus 13


1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2"When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests,
3and the priest shall examine the diseased spot on the skin of his body; and if the hair in the diseased spot has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous disease; when the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him unclean.
4But 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 shut up the diseased person for seven days;
5and the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up seven days more;
6and the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased spot is dim and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
7But 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;
8and the priest shall make an examination, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.
9"When a man is afflicted with leprosy, he shall be brought to the priest;
10and the priest shall make an examination, and if there is a white swelling in the skin, which has turned the hair white, and there is quick raw flesh in the swelling,
11it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not shut him up, for he is unclean.
12And if the leprosy breaks out in the skin, so that the leprosy covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see,
13then the priest shall make an examination, and if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean.
14But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean.
15And the priest shall examine the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean; raw flesh is unclean, for it is leprosy.
16But if the raw flesh turns again and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest,
17and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.
18"And when there is in the skin of one's body a boil that has healed,
19and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest;
20and the priest shall make an examination, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy, it has broken out in the boil.
21But if the priest examines it, and the hair on it is not white and it is not deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall shut him up seven days;
22and if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is diseased.
23But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24"Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white,
25the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is leprosy; it has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.
26But if the priest examines it, and the hair in the spot is not white and it is no deeper than the skin, but is dim, the priest shall shut him up seven days,
27and the priest shall examine him the seventh day; if it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.
28But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but is dim, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar of the burn.
29"When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard,
30the priest shall examine the disease; and if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an itch, a leprosy of the head or the beard.
31And if the priest examines the itching disease, and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days,
32and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease; and if the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin,
33then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days more;
34and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
35But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing,
36then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean.
37But 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,
39the priest shall make an examination, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is tetter that has broken out in the skin; he is clean.
40"If a man's hair has fallen from his head, he is bald but he is clean.
41And if a man's hair has fallen from his forehead and temples, he has baldness of the forehead but he is clean.
42But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased spot, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead.
43Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the body,
44he is a leprous man, he is unclean; the priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.
45"The leper who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, `Unclean, unclean.'
46He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp.
47"When there is a leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment,
48in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin,
49if the disease shows greenish or reddish in the garment, whether in warp or woof or in skin or in anything made of skin, it is a leprous disease and shall be shown to the priest.
50And the priest shall examine the disease, and shut up that which has the disease for seven days;
51then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in warp or woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a malignant leprosy; it is unclean.
52And he shall burn the garment, whether diseased in warp or woof, woolen or linen, or anything of skin, for it is a malignant leprosy; it shall be burned in the fire.
53"And if the priest examines, and the disease has not spread in the garment in warp or woof or in anything of skin,
54then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up seven days more;
55and the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the diseased spot has not changed color, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire, whether the leprous spot is on the back or on the front.
56"But if the priest examines, and the disease is dim after it is washed, he shall tear the spot out of the garment or the skin or the warp or woof;
57then if it appears again in the garment, in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading; you shall burn with fire that in which is the disease.
58But the garment, warp or woof, or anything of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean."
59This is the law for a leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, to decide whether it is clean or unclean.

Leviticus 14


1The LORD said to Moses,
2"This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest;
3and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination. Then, if the leprous disease is healed in the leper,
4the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet stuff and hyssop;
5and the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.
6He shall take the living bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet stuff and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water;
7and he shall sprinkle it seven times upon him who is to be cleansed of leprosy; then he shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field.
8And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean; and after that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.
9And on the seventh day he shall shave all his hair off his head; he shall shave off his beard and his eyebrows, all his hair. Then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.
10"And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a cereal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil.
11And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting.
12And the priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD;
13and he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place; for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
14The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.
15Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand,
16and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
17And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the guilt offering;
18and the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD.
19The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering;
20and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the cereal offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21"But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, and a log of oil;
22also two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he can afford; the one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
23And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting, before the LORD;
24and the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.
25And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering; and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.
26And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand;
27and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD;
28and the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put;
29and the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.
30And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or young pigeons such as he can afford,
31one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a cereal offering; and the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for him who is being cleansed.
32This is the law for him in whom is a leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing."
33The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
34"When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession,
35then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, `There seems to me to be some sort of disease in my house.'
36Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house.
37And he shall examine the disease; and if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface,
38then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.
39And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look; and if the disease has spread in the walls of the house,
40then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city;
41and he shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped round about, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour into an unclean place outside the city;
42then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house.
43"If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it,
44then the priest shall go and look; and if the disease has spread in the house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house; it is unclean.
45And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city to an unclean place.
46Moreover he who enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening;
47and he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48"But if the priest comes and makes an examination, and the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed.
49And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet stuff and hyssop,
50and shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water,
51and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet stuff, along with the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
52Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet stuff;
53and he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field; so he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean."
54This is the law for any leprous disease: for an itch,
55for leprosy in a garment or in a house,
56and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot,
57to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprosy.



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