Leviticus14

¹And the Lord said to Moses,

²“The following instructions are for those seeking ceremonial purification from a skin disease. Those who have been healed must be brought to the priest,

³who will examine them at a place outside the camp. If the priest finds that someone has been healed of a serious skin disease,

⁴he will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch.

⁵The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water.

⁶He will take the live bird, the cedar stick, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop branch, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.

⁷The priest will then sprinkle the blood of the dead bird seven times on the person being purified of the skin disease. When the priest has purified the person, he will release the live bird in the open field to fly away.

⁸“The persons being purified must then wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean and may return to the camp. However, they must remain outside their tents for seven days.

⁹On the seventh day they must again shave all the hair from their heads, including the hair of the beard and eyebrows. They must also wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean.

¹⁰“On the eighth day each person being purified must bring two male lambs and a one-year-old female lamb, all with no defects, along with a grain offering of six quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a cup of olive oil.

¹¹Then the officiating priest will present that person for purification, along with the offerings, before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

¹²The priest will take one of the male lambs and the olive oil and present them as a guilt offering, lifting them up as a special offering before the Lord.

¹³He will then slaughter the male lamb in the sacred area where sin offerings and burnt offerings are slaughtered. As with the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest. It is a most holy offering.

¹⁴The priest will then take some of the blood of the guilt offering and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

¹⁵“Then the priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand.

¹⁶He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the Lord.

¹⁷The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

¹⁸The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord.

¹⁹“Then the priest must present the sin offering to purify the person who was cured of the skin disease. After that, the priest will slaughter the burnt offering

²⁰and offer it on the altar along with the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person who was healed, and the person will be ceremonially clean.

²¹“But anyone who is too poor and cannot afford these offerings may bring one male lamb for a guilt offering, to be lifted up as a special offering for purification. The person must also bring two quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil for the grain offering and a cup of olive oil.

²²The offering must also include two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford. One of the pair must be used for the sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

²³On the eighth day of the purification ceremony, the person being purified must bring the offerings to the priest in the Lord’s presence at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

²⁴The priest will take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the olive oil, and lift them up as a special offering to the Lord.

²⁵Then the priest will slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering. He will take some of its blood and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

²⁶“The priest will also pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand.

²⁷He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord.

²⁸The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

²⁹The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord.

³⁰“Then the priest will offer the two turtledoves or the two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford.

³¹One of them is for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be presented along with the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord.

³²These are the instructions for purification for those who have recovered from a serious skin disease but who cannot afford to bring the offerings normally required for the ceremony of purification.”

³³Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

³⁴“When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, I may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.

³⁵The owner of such a house must then go to the priest and say, ‘It appears that my house has some kind of mildew.’

³⁶Before the priest goes in to inspect the house, he must have the house emptied so nothing inside will be pronounced ceremonially unclean.

³⁷Then the priest will go in and examine the mildew on the walls. If he finds greenish or reddish streaks and the contamination appears to go deeper than the wall’s surface,

³⁸the priest will step outside the door and put the house in quarantine for seven days.

³⁹On the seventh day the priest must return for another inspection. If he finds that the mildew on the walls of the house has spread,

⁴⁰the priest must order that the stones from those areas be removed. The contaminated material will then be taken outside the town to an area designated as ceremonially unclean.

⁴¹Next the inside walls of the entire house must be scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped in the unclean place outside the town.

⁴²Other stones will be brought in to replace the ones that were removed, and the walls will be replastered.

⁴³“But if the mildew reappears after all the stones have been replaced and the house has been scraped and replastered,

⁴⁴the priest must return and inspect the house again. If he finds that the mildew has spread, the walls are clearly contaminated with a serious mildew, and the house is defiled.

⁴⁵It must be torn down, and all its stones, timbers, and plaster must be carried out of town to the place designated as ceremonially unclean.

⁴⁶Those who enter the house during the period of quarantine will be ceremonially unclean until evening,

⁴⁷and all who sleep or eat in the house must wash their clothing.

⁴⁸“But if the priest returns for his inspection and finds that the mildew has not reappeared in the house after the fresh plastering, he will pronounce it clean because the mildew is clearly gone.

⁴⁹To purify the house the priest must take two birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch.

⁵⁰He will slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot filled with fresh water.

⁵¹He will take the cedar stick, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, and dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and into the fresh water. Then he will sprinkle the house seven times.

⁵²When the priest has purified the house in exactly this way,

⁵³he will release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. Through this process, the priest will purify the house, and it will be ceremonially clean.

⁵⁴“These are the instructions for dealing with serious skin diseases, including scabby sores;

⁵⁵and mildew, whether on clothing or in a house;

⁵⁶and a swelling on the skin, a rash, or discolored skin.

⁵⁷This procedure will determine whether a person or object is ceremonially clean or unclean. “These are the instructions regarding skin diseases and mildew.”